


Love is Torture

by Coffequeen27



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Lemon, Sex, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:02:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 30
Words: 44,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8595502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffequeen27/pseuds/Coffequeen27
Summary: Koga's pack is dead he kidnaps Kagome and tortures her for answers but just as he was having a change of heart, Inuyasha show up to rescue her...or is that his intention?OC Koga and OC Inuyasha





	1. Pain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [felicity Hagg](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=felicity+Hagg).



He could hear it playing in his head repeatedly. The ear shattering screams of his brethren. His tribe mourning the loss of all the ones that they loved so much. The ones he called brother. They had so many questions, all wanted revenge. That was his job and he knew it, he was their leader. His head hurt, and he couldn’t think straight so he did the only thing he knew how to do…he ran. He had three jewel shards and he could feel the power they were giving him, as his feet barely hit the ground from the momentum they were helping him get, it was like running on invisible clouds on top the earth. He could hear nothing, but wind surround him drowning out the sounds around him and the ones in his head that were causing all this pain. The running was good it helped the world disappear for a while and it was only him and the rush. This was all part of who he was. He was a wolf demon, and this was his refuge. The rush of the adrenaline, the quiet of the woods, and the isolation of the wild.

As he ran from the questions and the screams for revenge that his own heart was tormenting him with. He stopped and sniffed the air. Koga growled because he knew those smells they were the same ones mixed in the blood of his fallen pack members. His beast side was screaming for him to go and take his vengeance no questions asked and kill all the ones he would find, but Koga knew he needed to play this smarter than that. Nothing would be gained by going into this as hot headed as he was. So, he ran downhill from the ones he smelt so he could look at the situation first. He knew from the smell there was three humans and maybe 3 or 4 demons. But for some reason one was giving off a funnier sent. They smelt of demon but also of something else altogether.

As the clearing came into view Koga could see 7 people. One was a human woman standing beside a huge demon cat, but she must have been more than a regular human because she was wearing what he knew to be a demon slayer outfit. Koga was surprised. He had dealt with demon slayers before, but he never had seen a woman be one.

He smiled wide and laughed “Ha, piece of cake. The slayer should be no problem for me.”

The person standing next to her was a man dressed in what looked to be a monk’s outfit. Using what looked like a staff of some kind as a shield in front of him and the slayer. He was letting off the smell of spiritual power. Koga took note of this incase he needed it. Next to them was a demon dressed in all red, with silvery white hair and dog ears on top of his head. He held a sword in front of him.

“Wait, he isn’t full demon. Ha, he is only half-demon. What a joke, Not even worth my time.” Koga growled.

As his eyes moved along the swords’ path from the half-demon, they landed on someone dressed in a pale white baboon pelt.

“That is the one giving off the funny sent. The one who was mixed most with my tribe members blood. What is he?” Koga could feel his whole body shaking. His blood was boiling for the need to rip apart the demon a few feet away from him. He could feel his eyes going red with the wrath he felt in his heart. He wanted to come out of hiding and make all of them pay for what they had done to his brothers. As these thoughts were fighting within himself a light caught his eye and he noticed that he had missed someone.

There with a bow and arrow pulled tight stood a strange looking girl. Her black hair was flying behind her and she was wearing a weird outfit of some kind. He took note of how the skirt was much like his fur pelt, but it wasn’t like anything he had seen before. He looked her up and down and even with how strange she looked Koga could tell that she was indeed human but as he took another sniff of the air that floated from her direction he realized maybe there was more to her than he first thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had some of these chapters edited for awhile now but with my other stories and life I held on to them so I will take today to edit and then tomorrow I will post the new chapter I have. Sorry it took so long.


	2. Kidnapped

Kagome felt the rage pick up in herself that happens every time Naraku is around. So, she lifted her scarred bow and arrow. This weapon was still new to her but right now it felt so right in her hand as she saw that once again Inuyasha’s wind scar attack had failed on Naraku’s barrier. How could someone have a way of breaking her nerves so bad? She was normally a level-headed girl that had only found one thing that could get under her skin so easily and that was Inuyasha the white-haired dog half-demon that over the last months she had become to call friend.

“Do you really think such a pathetic attack as that will work against one of my strongest barriers, Inuyasha?” Naraku spit out. “You are as stupid as always to think you can defeat me and take my jewel shards. What is wrong is your little priestess double there not good enough to do her job?” His pale face lightened up evilly as he lifted his mouth into a dark grin pointed at Kagome.

“I will kill you, you asshole, just you wait and see.” Inuyasha countered.

Kagome knew how this would end the same way it did every other time. With them fighting their hardest and Naraku running off and she was sick of it. She wanted to make him pay for what he had done to everyone she had come to be close to, Inuyasha and Kikyo, the girl she hated but was told she was the reincarnation of, Miroku for the curse Naraku put on his family. All of them, but her friend Sango she hurt for the worst, because of Naraku she had lost her entire village and family and now the brother she thought she had lost. Naraku had brought him back again to torment her friend even more. She wanted Naraku dead, not for her but for all of them.

She let her arrow go just as all these feelings were beginning to rise inside of her and to her surprise she hit her mark. The arrow flew straight to the barrier and for a moment made it seem like it would break. She saw the shocked worried look on Naraku’s face and couldn’t help but smile. Unfortunately, the arrow fell, and the barrier started to return to normal. Naraku laughed and started attacking again with his tentacles knocking Sango and Miroku to the ground.

“What did you do Kagome?’ Inuyasha screamed at her.

“I don’t know, it looked like it was working.” Kagome screamed back irritated at the thought he would think she had done something to stop it. 

“Well, whatever you did, do it again.” He said as he pulled back his Tessaiga for another wind scar as Kagome pulled another arrow. She knew what he wanted her to do. She knew she was   
supposed to release her arrow at the same time he yelled for the wind scar, but as she went to release it she felt a strong tug on her stomach making her drop her bow. It landed on the ground in slow motion as she was suddenly lifted off the ground. 

“KAGOMEEEEE!!!!!!!” She heard Inuyasha scream out for her. He turned to look at her with a look of worry on his face.

“Inuyasha HELLLPPPPP!!!!!” She pleaded back to him. Reaching out as far as she could reach praying she could only reach him.

Kagome felt herself being placed on someone’s shoulder and as she did the clearing was getting further and further away. She turned her head and saw what looked like a demon with dark skin and pointed ears, his black hair was being held by a fur hair tie into a ponytail with a fur head band, and as he turned to look at her she noticed his fangs as he gave her an evil half grin. 

“What are you doing? Who are you?” With all the questions running through her mind those were the ones she thought meant the most now to ask. Kagome could feel the air blowing wildly all around them as they moved at such a fast speed that her stomach turned threatening to bring up her lunch from earlier in the day. She felt like she was going to pass out.

“You don’t have any right to ask me who I am. So, just shut up and be quiet, or I will rip you apart right here, and then finish off your friends.” Koga looked at the girl in his hold and continued to run as fast and as far as he could from the clearing.


	3. Koga

As Koga ran he felt the weight of the girl on his shoulder pressing him down further into the earth than normal.

“She must have passed out.” He stated as he lifted his nose to see if he was being followed. He had travelled all night at the top of his speed and he was just now starting to feel his adrenaline start to go down. By this time, he should be far enough away from anyone who was trying to stop him, but it never hurt to check he thought. As he sniffed he realized that the only sent he smelt was the girl with him. He didn’t know what this girl and all the others had to do with the death of his pack members, but he knew it was something and he planned to use this human to find out what, but first he had to find a place to keep her that was isolated and well hidden. 

When he racked his brain to think the only places that popped up was his territory. His mountains, his home, but if he brought the girl straight to the tribe they would kill her no questions asked and Koga wanted answers. So, he had to find a place to hide her from not only someone who might rescue her but also from the tribe you would kill her for food. 

He stopped running and laid the girl down on the forest floor and looked at her. Her long black hair was fanned out across the ground it was a mess of leaves and dirt he would guess from the run, she was wearing a weird kimono top that was torn in spots here and there, but Koga couldn’t smell any blood, so he hadn’t broken the skin, he looked down at the pelt she wore.

“What animal is that from? It doesn’t feel like fur.” He snarled at how the material caught on his claws. As he stared at her feet he noticed she was wearing a funny looking sandal. 

“You humans are so strange.” Koga spat out at the still passed out girl lying just below him. He sat on the ground for a minute to figure out exactly where it was he could take her that would work for what he needed it for and as he did he remembered a mountain just south of his dens that his father used to take him when he was younger to improve his fighting skills in private. Koga had always hated the place, but it was stocked with all the things he would need to question the girl and gave him the privacy. He put the girl back on his shoulder and took off at full speed again. He was heading home.

Kagome woke up feeling cold and wet. She opened her eyes but all she could see was darkness in front of her. She went to move her hand to wipe her eyes to force them to adjust to the lack of light but when she did she found she couldn’t move them and she could feel something cold and heavy wrapping her wrist. She found her legs were in the same situation. As she was trying to remember what happened she heard a sound to the left of her.

“Hello, who is there?” She screamed into the darkness. As she waited for an answer a light suddenly flooded the room and the man she saw take her was standing in front of her. Now that she could get a good look she noticed he was wearing some kind of metal chest plate lined with fur the same color of his head band and what looked like a fur skirt. Around his long, tan legs, he had fur wraps that went from his ankle to his knee. His feet where just simply wrapped in a white cloth. He stood there looking at her with his strong arms crossed in front of him giving her a cocked head look. He walked a step closer to her and with him so close she saw he had eyes the color of the sky. So blue Kagome felt she could get lost in them given they were in a better situation. 

“Who are you?” She asked.

Koga was silent as he looked the girl up and down. Now that he had her to himself all he could feel was his anger again. The anger over losing his brothers and this girl being a part of that. It took everything in him to stay calm and not rip her to shreds for the wrongs she had done to him and his tribe, but Koga needed answers and killing her wouldn’t get them. As she asked him who he was for the second time he did all he could manage to do. 

He leaned towards her face to face and looked her dead in her dark brown eyes and said, “My name is Koga and we are going to have a little fun.”

Kagome felt a chill go down her spine as his grave voice shook her to her core and she gasped as she watched his once beautiful blue eyes be coated in red like blood pooling in water and the light from the cave gleam off his pearly white fangs as he gave her a tormented grin


	4. Burned

Koga pushed his sharp claws into the soggy rock wall right beside the human girl’s head and he placed his other in the curve of her hip and even though his wolf side was begging him to kill her, to take this pathetic human’s life he knew he had to keep himself under control. As he gripped her, he let the tip of his claws prick her skin just a bit he felt her breathing come to a halt and her sent was a mix of downright fear and something else but all he cared about was that he had done his job in scaring her.

He bent down to her neck and inhaled the intoxicating sent of the fear this human girl was giving off, it was making it hard to keep the wolf at bay. For years his tribe had fed on humans, but he had never smelt anyone smell like this before she was a mix of human sweat and something pure and he found it completely irresistible and for a moment he had forgotten why he had brought the girl here in the first place. 

Kagome couldn’t help but shiver, this demon had her locked to a cave wall from the looks of it and to be honest she had never been more scared in her life. His claws were digging into her hip causing her mind to fill with a ton of questions. Who was this Koga and why did he bring her here? Would it make much difference to know because most likely he was just going to kill her and be done with it? 

She had always thought she was a strong person but right now she felt nothing but small and vulnerable and she found she didn’t like it much. As Koga leaned in to sniff her, Wait, why was he sniffing her, His cold metal plate pressed up against her and her breath caught in her throat. His body was so close, and he was letting off the smell of the forest, the smell of pine trees and earth.  
It reminded her of the incense her mother burned sometimes. Just as she was starting to wonder what her family was doing and if she would ever see them again Koga tightly gripped his hand around her neck and looked her straight in the eye and growled out “I have questions bitch, and if you want to live you had better answer them.”

Kagome fought against the strangle hold he had on her to give him a raspy response “What do you want?”

“Exactly what I just said, wench.” Koga spat out angrily into the human’s face. “Simple question first, who the fuck are you?” 

He loosened his grip on her neck and Kagome found it easier to talk now. “My name is Kagome.” She answered him with a shaky voice. Why did she always find herself in these situations? 

“Well, Kagome” Koga said sarcastically as he turned his back on the human girl to walk over to the torches on the wall. He ran his hands along the equipment he had laid out that the tribe usually used for torturing and picked up a flat metal rod which he brought up to the flames and as he watched the metal turn bright red he turned his head to the girl behind him and said, “Who were you with?”

Kagome was confused. Who or what was he talking about? Does he mean Inuyasha? She hung silently there trying to rack her mind about who he could be talking about and as she did she could tell her silence was making him angry and he removed the rod he held in his hand from the flames and within 2 steps he was right in front of her.

He gripped her face hard and held the hot metal so close to her cheek that she thought she was feeling her skin bubble even though the rod wasn’t touching her. “Answer the fucking question or I swear I will burn your face off and not think twice about it.” Koga growled at her.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about?” Kagome shakily said. 

“You don’t look like a dumb human, so please don’t act like one.” Koga said. Part of him just wanted her to answer the question but she was playing games that made his other side more than just angry.

Kagome was scared. She had no clue what he wanted her to tell him all she knew was that she wanted to go home. Where was Inuyasha? “I’m not, I really don’t know!” She screamed out at him. 

Koga grinned wildly as his eyes went full red. “Wrong answer.” He placed the tip of the rod on her neck and smelt the girl’s flesh burn under it and his ears rang with her screams. He removed the rod after a few seconds and moved her head to look in her eyes that were tear stained as her screams continued. “Don’t do it again.” 

Kagome could do nothing but cry out in pain as darkness started to take her under.


	5. Answers

Kagome woke up feeling light headed and her neck was still on fire. She squeezed her eyes together trying to fight against the pain she felt that was threatening to drive her into the darkness again. Her arms hurt from being held over her head for so long now and she wondered just how long she had been hanging like this. As she searched the cave for any sign of the demon that had hurt her she moved her head and saw a hole that looked like a doorway to another room it was lit up and inside she could see Koga crouched down beside a fire he had made on the floor. 

The light flickered off his tan skin and as she looked at his face she noticed he seemed so much different than he was before. His face was lean, he was what she would call handsome if she could and she could tell that he was young, but he seemed to have a world of responsibilities that made him mature in a way. As she looked at the light on his face she could tell that given his features she also saw sadness written there amongst the hard exterior. Suddenly she came eye to eye with him, her heart dropped, and fear gripped her the minute she saw him notice her staring.

“Finally, you’re awake. Hard to interrogate you if you keep passing out on me like the weak wench that you are.” Koga said as he got up and walked in the room where Kagome was.  
“Why?” Her voice came out raspy and cracked because of the pain that her throat was in. Kagome was confused. What did she know; she didn’t even know who this guy was. She knew he was a demon, she knew he had taken her, and she knew he was angry but what did that have to do with her? 

“Didn’t I already tell you don’t act stupid? You know what I am talking about. You were there I smelt you there. I saw you with that demon, if that is what he even is. So, it is in your best interest to just answer my questions because it will make this all easier on you.” Koga’s voice was shaky from emotion as he ran his claws through the rough leather of his father’s old whip. 

He could still remember how his father would use it on tribe members turned traitor or criminals that had threatened their peaceful life in the mountains. If he took a sniff he could probably still smell their blood seeped into the old leather. He moved forward and let loose the leather whip tail and casually let it move across the rock stone floor. He could sense the girl was nervous, her body was shaking, and she was sweating. His wolf side was pleased to see her this way as he smelt her fear it was like steam from the hot springs hitting his nose.

“I swear, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Kagome had never felt so scared in her life and she had fought bigger demons than this and she had never once felt this kind of fear. 

She wished nothing more than to be home with her mother, brother, and grandpa. Hell, this was worse than studying for exams, which she would rather be doing right now, because in this case she had no answers for any of these questions. As she watched him move toward her with the jagged rough skinny piece of leather in his hand she knew if she didn’t figure those answers out she was about to be punished horribly for it.

As her mind was searching for answers Koga raised his arm back and released the leather strap down hard on the inside of Kagome’s elbows. As he pulled it back to him Kagome screamed out from the pain it left behind. Her elbow felt like someone had taken a huge chunk of skin out of it all the way to the muscle as she felt warm liquid start to trickle down. 

“Answer me, Now!” Koga roared. 

Tears were falling without stop from her eyes as she looked at him and screamed, making her painful throat hurt even more “Answer what?” Koga again brought the whip down on Kagome but this time it was on her leg. The impact made Kagome’s leg collapse making the cold metal cuffs on her arms cut into the skin around her wrist causing small streams of blood to run down her arms.  
“Why were you there? Why did you slaughter my pack members? Who was that baboon wearing asshole? Come on Kagome, I know you know, I saw you and that pathetic half-demon with him.” Koga’s hands were twitching wanting so badly to let his beast take over and finally kill this bitch for everything he felt. It would make him feel better, make him feel like he had found some justice at least but he couldn’t he knew he had to hold out until he got what he wanted. 

Kagome hung her head low and cried until her throat burned from her inhaled breaths as Koga’s questions finally registered in her ears. She looked up to see Koga raising the whip again. She crawled in on herself as much as she could and screamed as much as her raspy dry throat would let her. “Wait, wait, wait, please wait.”

Koga stopped dead in his tracks. “Why should I?”

“You said pack members; does that make you a wolf demon?” Kagome asked.

“Of course, you fucking idiot! What did you think I was?” Koga stated with his chest puffed out. “I am not just any wolf demon though. I am the leader of the Eastern wolf tribe!”

Kagome looked him in the eyes. She had never heard of such a thing, but she guessed such a thing could exist given that humans throughout history have had leaders such as kings and queens, what would make demons so different. “You said your pack was slaughtered, was it the wolves at Naraku’s castle?”

Koga cocked his head to the side as he felt his anger boil inside of him remembering the scene he ran up upon. His pack was scattered everywhere bloodied and cut apart. He remembered howling from all the emotion he felt inside boiling over. He had grown up with most of the men that were laying there, he had played with them as a cub and he had fought with them in manhood. Now they were all brought down to nothing and who or whatever had done it had done it more savagely than even he had ever seen. He opened his eyes and let his beast take over as he grabbed Kagome by her neck and dug in his claws in enough to draw blood “Who the fuck is Naraku?” He growled.


	6. Dream

Koga could see the blood vessels turning red and threatening to burst in Kagome’s eyes. His hands were stained red with the blood from the puncture holes in her neck his claws had made. Still he couldn’t make himself let up. Who was Naraku?

Oddly this name sounded familiar to Koga but he just couldn’t pin point why. He could hear Kagome’s heart rate dropping by the second as he slowly came back to himself again. He couldn’t get anything out of the bitch if she was dead. He yanked his hand away and pulled Kagome’s limp face up and tapped her check over and over trying to bring her back to the world of the living. Her color started to come back as her oxygen level started to rise and she opened her mouth and gasped in a lung full of air. Koga stepped back as she started coughing to avoid the rain of spit that was spraying all over. 

Once Kagome got her breathing under control she looked straight at Koga and screamed “You almost killed me, you stupid jerk!!!!” She knew she was in a dangerous situation, but she didn’t care she was livid and since she couldn’t beat the crap out of Koga she was going to let him know how she felt and dammit he was going to listen. She took a deep breath and managed to ignore the horrible amount of pain she was in.

“What is your problem? You kidnap me, have me chained up and beating me, asking me questions I have no answers to but you’re too stupid to realize that, apparently. Here I thought wolves were supposed to be smart.” She didn’t regret getting that off her chest but talking to much only caused her pain to worsen. 

Koga no matter how angry he was, looked at this girl and couldn’t help but smile. He had done more to her than what some humans should have been able to take normally, but this girl was bleeding all over the place but still acting as if she weren’t. Yelling at him, like he was some common dog who she had just caught peeing on her floor. How did she even find the strength to keep her will going? 

This girl was so very different than any human he had ever come across. His head hurt, and the smell of her blood was giving him a headache, it was a swirl of fear and a hint of something he couldn’t quite place in his head and it felt like it was tingling; but how could that be? He had to take a break he had been stuck in these caves for days it felt like now and he needed a bath, so he decided he was going to go to the tribe’s hot springs at the top of the mountains. “I’m leaving.” He said to Kagome.

Kagome was shocked. What the hell? “Where are you going? Didn’t you want to question me? Wasn’t that the point of all this?” She screamed as she angrily shook her cuffs above her head. Koga didn’t pay her any mind, he just kept walking out of the cave and covered the front of it back up with the moss that was growing just beyond the waterfall hiding the entrance. 

He felt the warm summer air blow through his hair as the sunlight hit his skin warming him up for what felt the first time in a long time. Koga just wanted to do what his instincts were telling him to, so he bent over and made sure his foot wrappings were on tight enough. As soon as he was done he was off in no time like a whirlwind cutting through the forest. He kept running uphill to where the hot springs were located; by the way the sun was positioned he could tell it was just after lunch which meant no one was at the springs so he would be there all alone. He didn’t complain he needed the time to think.

As he approached the shore of the hot springs he could already feel the steam from the water breaking a sweat out on his forehead. He undressed by taking off his bloody chest armor and started cleaning it and the rest of his clothes, and once he was done he hung them up to dry while he was bathing himself. 

He lowered himself into the water and sighed at how the water felt on his tight muscles. He swam over to the nearest rock and sat down on it and laid his head back on the bank behind him and felt the sun shine down on his face. It felt so good to be outside, it was where he belonged; it was part of who he was. Yes, his tribe lived and slept in the mountains but during the day they enjoyed being outside, which had gotten harder and harder now that demonic activity had gotten worse due to the jewel shards.

He raised his arm out of the water and watched as red tinted water ran down to the springs below. Everyone was going crazy trying to find these tiny little things and everyone was willing to do whatever it took to get more and more of them. He understood that need, he had three, but he could sometimes find himself wishing he had more power than what these alone brought him.

As he stared up into the sky he let his mind wander to the girl he had left alone in the cave. He couldn’t help but find she intrigued him. Here was this weak human but she was anything but. She had a will that was unbending, and boy did she get angry. Koga could have sworn when she was yelling at him it was like the air sparked around her. No human he had ever met had ever been like this and Koga felt weird about all of it. He knew as a leader what he had to do, but there was another side that was telling him that maybe it was the wrong thing to do altogether. He only wanted his answers then to kill the girl and be done with it but why does that not feel like the only thing he wanted to do anymore. 

As he closed his eyes to relieve the head ache he was starting to get again he slowly started nodding off.

**The fur was warm wrapped around them as Koga could feel the sweat drip down his forehead. He couldn’t believe he had finally made it here, so close to her. Her warmth was like the sun on his bear skin and her tiny body molded perfectly to his. He could hear her tiny whispered breaths tingling his ear drum with every smooth thrust he gave to her and it made his heart swell with each sound.

He couldn’t figure out this feeling he felt because it was so new to him, but he knew he never wanted to let go of it ever again in his life. He felt her starting to come to her peck which was driving him closer to his. As soon as this feeling became more intense he let out a wolfish howl and bit down on the dip between her shoulder and neck, he felt her tense at first but then she relaxed as soon as he started to clean the wound. After he was done, he looked her straight in her dark brown eyes that were still shadowed over from the lust of their pairing and said “I love you Koga.”**

Koga’s eyes flew open as if he had just had a horrible nightmare and he jumped out of the springs to go get dressed. “Oh god, No!” Was all Koga could say as he finally took off back towards the cave. This human had done something to him and he was going to find out what.


	7. Inuyasha

He shook with rage; it had been days already and here they were again taking a break, so the weak humans could rest. It had already been five days since someone took Kagome and Inuyasha had been trying to chase a faint scent ever since. The battle with Naraku ended how they all do with the humans hurt and Naraku leaving with some back handed remark. 

Sango and Miroku had both gotten knocked out when Naraku sent them flying into the trees outlining the forest. Unfortunately for Inuyasha that was the worst thing that could happen because now he was slowed down by having to take the two to a nearby healer to recover from their wounds and Shippo reminded him they should all stay together, so when Sango and Miroku healed they too could help search for Kagome.

All Inuyasha could do was sit back and wait. Two days later they were healthy enough to start travelling again and Inuyasha picked up a small trace of Kagome heading East which he knew at the human’s pace would take ages to get to.

“Sit down and eat Inuyasha, you need to keep your strength up.” Miroku said while taking slow bites out of one of the small fish that he and Shippo had caught for their lunch. 

“Feh, really not hungry.” Inuyasha said sarcastically. As he sat himself down on the roots of the nearest tree and stuck his arms in his sleeves. Why did he have to keep up with these idiots? If it wasn’t for them he would probably already have Kagome back. They are behind on their jewel hunting because that stupid wench let herself get kidnapped. He knew Naraku had something to do with this and felt that if he found Kagome more than likely Naraku would be around too. Stupid weak humans.

After lunch they packed up Kagome’s yellow pack that she always carried and prepared to set off again and as they set off Inuyasha caught a faint sent of Kagome again. They were about half way to the East by now and it smelt stronger here than it did any other time, so he started to speed up. They came to a clear spot in the woods that looked like someone had used the area to rest. On the ground was a spot where someone had laid down and as Inuyasha sniffed he realized it smelt like Kagome.

“Do you smell something, Inuyasha?” Asked a curious Shippo. 

“Yea runt, I smell Kagome but I also smell something else.” Inuyasha answered back while his nose was still pressed to the ground and he was zig zagging every direction.

“Well, what is it?” Asked Shippo.

“Is it a demon?” Miroku chimed in.

Suddenly the smell registered in Inuyasha’s head he looked at the rest with a twisted face like he had just smelt the worse smell in the world. “It’s the smell of a stupid flea bag.” He said through slight vomit in his throat. 

“What? Inuyasha, what does that even mean?” Asked a frustrated Sango. 

“It smells like wolf, ok. Stupid, nasty, wolf demon.” Inuyasha spat out angrily. Dog demons and wolf demons you would think would get along but in reality that wasn’t the truth wolf demons thought they were superior to dog demons and dog demons hated them for this trait. “Stupid bastards, all of them.” Inuyasha spat on the ground and tried as hard as he could to rub the scent out of his nose.

“Why would a wolf demon take Kagome?” Sango asked. “I mean I would think after what Naraku did they wouldn't want anything to do with him.” 

“I don’t think Naraku helped in the planning of Lady Kagome getting kidnapped my dear Sango.” Miroku said. “I believe she was kidnapped by the wolves on their own doing.”

“Why would they do that?” Shippo asked.

“I don’t know Shippo.” Miroku said in a comforting way.

“Me either.” Said Inuyasha while making a fist so tight his claws where cutting into the palm of his hand causing small blood drops to fall to the ground below. “When I find them though, they will tell me or I will kill every one of them assholes.”


	8. Stew

Koga re-entered the cave and found Kagome hanging limply in her chains. He slowly moved closer to her and he had to admit even to himself that for a human this girl was beautiful. Her hair hung just right on one side of her face and her lips when they weren’t yelling insults at him were plush and red and rather nice to look at and seeing her asleep she looked so vulnerable and innocent that Koga found himself feeling sorry.

He had done so much to break this girl and she still hadn’t given up what he wanted to know. He paced the room back and forth trying to figure out what was going on with him. ‘Maybe she just doesn’t know anything. If that were true she wouldn’t have known about the castle.’ Koga was fighting a war inside himself back and forth his rage was telling him that he was in the right but there was another side that was telling Koga ‘Don’t be so stupid.’ 

Suddenly Koga walked back over to Kagome and saw her eyes flutter open slightly. “Are you ready to kill me now?” She asked sadly through a raspy throat before she passed out again from the pain her body was enduring. Koga felt his wall break and he hated to admit it, but he just couldn’t see the girl this way. It just felt too wrong.

He walked over to her chains; he opened them quickly and the girl slumped into his waiting arms. He adjusted her in his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style. He used his claw to move the bloody matted hair out of her face. “No, not today Kagome.” He whispered to her sleeping form as he carried her to the den that held the prison cells and laid Kagome down on a pile of furs.  
He grabbed an extra fur and wrapped it around her. He then went off to find her some food and water after locking her in the cell. Koga felt slightly confused on way he would do this even though he had already decided to spare her, but he felt like he done it because something was telling him no matter how bad he felt for what he had done she was still useful and had the answers to his questions even if she thought she didn’t. He just had to take a different approach in getting them.

Kagome woke up feeling warm and realized she was no longer vertical. The first thought that ran through her head is that this was all just a bad dream and maybe she had been home the whole time. She sprang up but when she did she felt a soaring headache hit her and instantly got dizzy. She closed her eyes waiting for the pain to wear off enough for her to open her eyes again. “God, everything hurts.” She said while rubbing her temples in small circles. After the room stopped spinning she saw nothing but rock walls around her and a steel jail looking door covering the only hole in the tiny room. “Of course, it was too good to be true.” Kagome was cursing god under her breath as she looked down and noticed a wooden bowl and beside it was a cup. She pulled off the fur and pulled her weak body with the only strength she had in her arms over to it because all the strength in her legs was gone. She looked inside and saw what looked to be soup and water in the cup. 

“Go ahead eat it; it will help you get your strength back.” Kagome jumped and looked in the direction of the door. Instantly regretting having turned so quickly.

“What is it?” She asked.

“It’s just stew.” Koga said annoyed. “Eat it.”

Kagome gave Koga a suspicious stare. “Did you make it?”

“Yea, why?” Koga asked curiously.

“Well if you made it then it is probably poisoned so don’t expect me to actually eat it.” Kagome said turning up her nose and crossing her arms. Koga was standing at the door open mouthed and shocked. How dare this pathetic human turn down his food. Why would he poison it, he had just spared her? Why would he decide to do otherwise? “I am not a Fox demon Kagome, we don’t play dirty. If I wanted you dead believe me, you stupid wench, you would be dead!” He half way screamed at Kagome. 

Now it was Kagome’s turn to be utterly shocked. How dare he yell? “Well excuse me for thinking otherwise with what you put me through; you idiot!” Koga gripped the bars of the door tightly in his grip. “Whatever you stubborn hag.” He growled before storming off. Kagome sat there feeling oddly proud of herself for getting under Koga’s skin but if she was being truthful with herself she really was starving. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ate, and the stew smelt good at least. 

Even just the look of it in front of her was making her stomach growl. If she wasn’t so dehydrated her mouth would probably be watering as well. So, against her better instincts she grabbed the bowl carefully and ate a chunk of meat from the stew inside. She found it was as good as it smelt. 

She finished all the food and water and sat the bowl and cup back where they were. She scooted back over to the pile of furs on the floor and laid down. “Well guess he didn’t poison it.” She mumbled to herself. She snuggled herself into the warmth of the fur pelt on top of her. “If he shows back up then I guess I will have to apologize.” 

Little did Kagome know Koga had been watching and listening to her the whole time from a shadowed cut out in the cave wall. He kicked his legs up on a nearby rock and leaned back with his hands behind his head as a wolfish grin plastered all over his face.


	9. Scared

**‘She pulled her head to the side to check the right of her, her heart was racing she wasn’t sure if that was from running or the fear she was feeling moving her forward. She couldn’t remember why she was running, she just knew she had to; this alone added a tiny thrill to her speed. As she ran deeper into the forest she could have sworn she heard someone breathe deeply on her neck. She whipped around to find nothing but empty air as she did her foot caught a lose root sending her flying to the soft leaf covered forest floor. Her breathing was heavy as she sat there whipping her head back and forth looking for any sign of the person she was supposed to be running from.

As the forest seemed to silence around her she could hear a small branch crunch under the weight of someone coming her direction. Her body wanted to flee again but her mind was telling her that she wanted him to catch her. She looked in the direction of the sound with a mixture of confusion and fear on her face. As he walked out of the tree line she felt her heartbeat start to flutter even faster if that was even humanly possible. She raised her hand up above her face to block the sunlight hiding the figures face from her view as she saw who it was her mouth dropped open and it was a whisper escaping her lips “You!”'**

Kagome shot up out of her sleep and could feel the sweat drip down her face as she tried to regain her composure. As she was trying to decipher what she had just seen she sensed someone was with her. She turned her head towards the door of the cell she had been put in, she saw Koga standing there leaning on the outside of the bars with his arms through them. “What do you want?” She asked trying to let him hear the anger in her voice. How dare he stand there looking so smug? 

“You talk in your sleep; do you know that?” Koga asked trying to sound just as annoyed as Kagome but found he failed terribly at it. He had been woken up in the middle of the night to Kagome yelling in her sleep and as much as he hated to admit it he had come to check on her. 

“So, what if I do? What does it matter to you? How long have you been there?” Kagome was furious now. He was being a smug jerk and she couldn’t help but let it get under her skin. She wondered why it mattered. She wanted to hate him, didn’t she? Kagome was starting to feel her head hurt with how Koga was acting and the dream she had had it all just caused her to have too many questions and she hadn’t had enough sleep for all of this. Her stomach hurt as well from the big bowl of stew she had last night, being the only thing she had eaten in days she should have taken her time with it. She gathered the fur up to just above her belly button and gave Koga an irritated stare.

“You talking in your sleep is not the problem, it’s when it keeps me awake. As for how long I have been here, awhile because you were tossing and turning and I…” Koga let his voice trail off on that last comment as he realized what he was about to say. He would admit that he was woke up and had come to check on her but was he really going to tell her that he had watched her to make sure she stayed safe. He needed to get out of these caves for a while, he was starting to lose his mind. 

Kagome looked at the wolf demon across from her with her face twisted in confusion. “And you what?” She asked. She felt like he was keeping something from her and if Kagome hated anything most of all it was being kept in the dark. She wanted him to finish his sentence and she figured he would only tell her if she made him, so she readied herself to do just that.

Koga looked at the small girl as she sat on the dingy pile of furs under her and held the fur that he had given her for a blanket in a tight grip. He looked at her dirt and blood matted hair sticking to her neck and face he guessed from sweating. He could see plainly all the bruises and cuts on her fairly tanned skin and the dirt and grim all over her clothes. 

He didn’t want to feel it, but it just happened, and he couldn’t keep denying it from himself anymore he felt sorry for her. Koga never liked to admit when he was wrong, and he hated even less to feel guilty about anything. He was a good leader he always made choices he felt were right and stood by them. Before his mind could stop the words from rolling off his tongue he answered her question “I was worried you would hurt yourself.” He had shocked himself.

He saw Kagome’s face go slack with the same expression if not even more shock than he was feeling, and his mind was running wild. He pulled his arms from the bars and turned tail to head outside and away from the girl that was giving him a headache.


	10. Confusion

He could feel the tree limbs barely bend under his feet as he jumped from tree to tree. He could almost see the mountains that marked the line into the Eastern territory. His robe was flying behind him in a vibrant red in the shine of the newly rising sunlight. Inuyasha had taken the opportunity of his friends needing to sleep to go ahead and see if he could sense Kagome anywhere near.

After he had found the small resting area his friends and him had walked for another day until it was like Kagome’s scent had faded without even the faintest hint in sight. He jumped down to the forest floor and took a quick sweep with his nose again. “The bitch couldn’t have just vanished!” He growled under his breath.

He was frustrated beyond anything he had ever felt before. Kagome was gone, and they were spending all their time looking for her. Miroku had made them stop in a village along the way to exorcise some hidden evil, Inuyasha knew that was only an excuse for him to get money and be a pervert but he had humored him because Sango said it would help them all to relax. All it had succeeded in doing for him was getting him stabbed by some drunken samurai who was trying to pick a fight with Miroku over asking his wife to be to bear his child. 

As he was turning in all directions he realized he wasn’t as alone as he thought in the dawn lighted woods; as he was moved to the left where he saw a small lake. The sunshine was starting to make the surface sparkle and he could see the tiny reflections of the tiny creatures that were now floating above it. They danced a dance that beckoned to him to follow them, to let them lead him to the one place he needed to be. “Kikyo’s soul collectors.” He said in a forlorn manner.

His heart was soaring at the opportunity to see his old lover and friend, but his mind was yelling at him that she would have to wait he had promised to the others he would find Kagome no matter what, and if that wasn’t enough, it kept reminding him he had sworn to her to protect her. He turned his head back and forth between the three spots his own body was being called to. 

East to rescue Kagome, West back to the friends he left in their sleep, who was surely about to wake up and notice he had gone, and ahead to the women he had loved and lost so long ago. He gritted his teeth and felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he bolted forward and growled out a response to his own mind that was screaming at him that this was wrong. “Damn it all!”

Koga was crouching behind a large oak tree watching a lone doe as she stood quietly in the now awake forest munching on grass like she didn’t have a care in the world. He made sure he was silent as possible as he pounced to bring her down. He grabbed his knife that hung to his side and brought it down upon her. After he stood up and picked the small doe up and placed it across his shoulders he started walking back to the cave whistling.

His mind took the quiet of the moment to start questioning him about what had happened this morning. Why did he care if she had hurt herself? Well that one was easy, if she had hurt herself he would never get the answers he wanted. He felt something itching at the back of his mind telling him that wasn’t all it was about, and he just didn’t want to admit it. “What is there to admit?” Koga asked with a half smirk on his face as he answered the unknown questioner aloud. “The girl knows something, if she gets hurt then I may never know what that is and that is the truth.”

Just as he said those words her face came to his mind even bloody and smart mouthed he had to admit the girl was pretty, ok maybe verging on beautiful. If he had took time to think about it then yes, she was intriguing to him for some reason he couldn’t fathom but that didn’t mean anything. “That’s right she is just a girl, nothing more.” He half huffed out trying to sound confident to his own self.

‘One you seem to be thinking about a lot here lately.’ There that tiny unwelcome voice was again trying to challenge him. So what, ok he had had that weird dream in the springs and he would admit he was feeling guilty towards her but none of those things meant anything more than being locked in that cave with only himself and that wench human and the pain he still felt for his pack it was all just messing with his head…. “Right?” Koga allowed a growl of frustration to escape his throat as he quickened his pace back to the cave.

Kagome was sitting there on the dirty pile of furs with her back to the wall directly behind her feeling the cold damp surface causing cold chills to go up her spine at first before she finally settled on putting it out of her mind and trying to relax. She leaned her head back against the same wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Stupid, what does it matter?” She asked half exasperated.   
She had been playing Koga’s words over and over in her head since he had left. Exactly why did it matter? He was a cold hearted jerk who had kidnapped her from her friends and beaten her to the edge of death. She could feel her head starting to hurt from trying to figure out what had happened in the last couple days or what felt like it to her anyways. Come to think of it she didn’t know how long she had been gone. When did Koga kidnap her? Why hadn’t Inuyasha found her yet? “Koga probably did something to hide my scent.-“She said as she tossed a rock at the wall in front of her with her good arm trying to get out some of the anger she was feeling. “-Jerk!” 

What other reason could there be why he hadn’t found her yet? She couldn’t help but feel like she was being too harsh on Koga. “What?” Kagome shouted completely shocked at the own thought in her head. Oh god what was she thinking. “To harsh on him, yea right. That will be the day.” She said while pulling her head forward to rest on her knees. 

“What will?” Her head snapped toward the door and found Koga standing there sweating and carrying a small doe on his shoulders. She had to admit he was well built and rather tall. His arms that were raised up to help hold the doe on, was working well to help show off how defined he was in the muscle area. While her mind was looking him up and down she stared into his clear blue eyes and couldn’t help but think of the sky. She shook her head and changed her face to one of a more controlled furious stare. “Nothing.” She said roughly. Koga just shrugged his shoulders and said “Fine, whatever you say.” 

He turned his back to her and was starting to head off to the room he had made into his makeshift den when she called out to him. “What is the doe for?”

He craned his head in her direction “Breakfast, You’re hungry right?” 

Kagome couldn’t believe what she had just heard. He had gotten the doe to make breakfast for her. Part of her logic brain was screaming not to trust it but before she could make a move to protest to him her stupid empty stomach gave her away by making the most embarrassing sound she had ever heard. 

“Ha, that’s what I thought!” Koga said shooting her a knowingly wicked grin as he once again turned his back to her and started back in his original direction to start on making the breakfast. He found he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face no matter how hard he tried.


	11. Breakfast

Koga sat with his knee pulled up to his chest and wrapped one arm around while placing his head on top. He stared at the small piece of deer he was cooking over the fire and he couldn’t help but think what a waste it was. ‘Rare food is so much better.’ “Why do humans have to ruin good food by cooking it?” Of all the wonders he had about the humans he and his pack used as food, their habits were the most confusing. 

They cook their food, they always smell like fruit and water, they had some odd beliefs, and most important they were weak. No matter how hard they trained or acted as if they were tough they always fell to either death or fear eventually. Koga lifted his head and stared in the direction of the cave cells and wondered if that was the reason he found this human so damn interesting at all.   
She was small and not exactly seen as brave. That is why Koga had chosen her to take because she looked easily breakable. “Yea right, she’s anything but.” Koga said aloud. He had hurt this girl to the point of death and still she acted like he didn’t scare her. ‘She yelled at you and called you stupid.’ His mind added. Koga’s face failed him in staying straight remembering her yelling at him like she was scolding a common pet. She was broken and bloodied and still found courage though all of that to yell at the person who made her that way. Koga had never met anyone with such a sense of idiotic courage it seemed to send his head spinning. 

The cooking smell of the deer started to shock him out of his thoughts. “Guess it’s done.” He said as he stubbornly stood up to remove the meat. He took out his knife and started cutting it up into small enough pieces for Kagome to eat, keeping in mind her throat was probably still in a lot of pain. He put it in a wooden bowl and walked over to the small basin of water he had in the corner and retrieved a cup of water. He made his way into the hallway that held the cells.

Kagome’s stomach hadn’t stopped growling since she started thinking about the breakfast Koga was making for her. A small voice in the back of her head told her not to trust him to not just poison her with it. “He would have done that last night if he wanted to, right?” She berated her stupid paranoid mind. Just as the fight between conscience and inner skeptic started to begin she heard Koga coming into the hallway. 

“Still hungry?” He asked in a mocking tone.

“What do you think?” Kagome asked as firmly as she could. “I have been here how many days and you have only fed me one time. Sorry to be such a pig.” She moved a strand of hair from her face and removed the fur from over her lap preparing to stand up but failed and stumbled back down to the floor as soon she made the attempt. Her stupid legs were still too weak to try and hold her weight for such a thing as walking. Next thing she knew Koga was beside her helping her back into her sitting position against the wall. 

“Careful, you are still too weak to try and walk.” He said, and Kagome could have sworn for a second she had seen pure worry flash on his beautifully strong tanned face. He made it disappear as soon as it had shown up.

Kagome pulled her still sore arm from his hold “Why the hell do you care?” She yelled at him.

“I don’t; just don’t want you killing yourself in front of me is all.” Koga's face was as emotionless ever, but Kagome couldn’t help but think his eyes were giving away something he didn’t mean for her to see. Anger rose up in her. What right did he have to care, he had done this to her. He was responsible for all that had happened to her in the first place.

“Why? Would it take all the fun out of it for you?” She asked him with a venomous gleam in her eyes.

What happened next sent a shock all the way through her body. Koga took her hair in his fingers and pulled the bloody and dirty strands behind her ear, He leaned his perfectly shaped lips right against them and whispered. “Like I said before, if I wanted you dead you would be. Kagome.” 

Kagome could feel shivers running up and down her spine from the sound of the way he had said her name. She looked at him with shock on her face as her brain was screaming at her. ‘Shut your mouth you idiot!!!!’ Through the fog of confusion and something else she couldn’t place she saw Koga’s mouth curl up in a half wolfish smile and felt another wave of shivers shake her as she saw the tiny bit of light hit his one fang she could see. 

She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. She could feel the heat rising to her face and start to coat her ears with a pink blush and her stomach had stopped grumbling and started doing flip flops. Was she nervous? How could she be nervous he hadn’t said anything to threaten her? Her conscience had finally stopped trying to argue with her and she could feel this tiny pull in her chest that made absolutely no sense to her what so ever.

She was brought out of her trance like state when she heard someone chuckling. It took her a minute to realize it was Koga. “What are you laughing about?” Kagome asked trying to be threatening and angry and finding it failing because her voice came out in a raspy and trembling whisper. 

“Nothing, nothing at all.” Koga said trying to clear his throat and leaning forward more to be face to face with the girl in front of him. He handed her the bowl of deer meat he had fixed and watched as she brought her arm up slowly to retrieve it. “Now, eat. I have to go somewhere but I will be back as soon as I can.”

Koga stood up and made his way out of the cell leaving Kagome still shivering and blushing on the floor staring at his back. What had made him do that? He had to go get something, so he told himself he would take the opportunity to head outside and get some fresh air and maybe he could shake this strange feeling in the process.


	12. Wolves Den

**Chiho-knowledge and protection**

Kagome stared at the bowl of meat that Koga had left her with, wondering what was wrong with her. No one had ever made her feel like this and he hadn’t even touched her but no matter how much she told herself to stop shaking her body just wouldn’t. The hair on the back of her neck was still standing on end and the goosebumps where causing her to feel like she had been electrocuted.

She had attempted multiple times to pick up a piece of meat and eat it, but her stomach was too knotted up to let her. “What is going on with you?” She asked aloud to herself. Secretly she hoped someone would answer her or even better Inuyasha would show up and take her away from all of this. “Bet he will be here soon.” She said finding a mild tone of confidence in her voice but once again her inner self was going to stomp all over that. ‘Do you really think he cares?’ Her brain berated her.

“Of course, he cares, how else will he find the shards if he doesn’t have me? I am sure he will be here soon. Koga…” and before she could even get that sentence out, her mind decided to chime in. ‘That’s right you are his little jewel detector, why wouldn’t he care? Without you he can’t find the jewel and make it whole and then he couldn’t be with Kikyo.’ 

Kagome huffed and put the bowl down on the floor then she balanced her chin on her fist. “Stupid Kikyo, why did I have to think of her?” She knew the answer, but her mind still found it better to say it out loud ‘Because you know she is the only thing that jerk cares about.’ Now Kagome felt her heart drop and couldn’t help to admit it to herself that she didn’t know how long she had been here but even so if Inuyasha was really looking for her wouldn’t he have already made it here? 

She knew it couldn’t have been more than 2 weeks, if that, but still when Inuyasha was about finding something he wanted he never let anything stand in his way. A tear fell on to her fist and she lifted her other hand to find she was crying.

Koga ran along the mountain side until he came to the waterfall that hid the entrance to his tribe’s den. He had gone to the springs knowing everyone would either still be asleep or in the dens having breakfast, so no one would disturb him. He wanted to wash the scent of Kagome off him, so no one would know he had been around a human. ‘Why they would care is why you were in the first place.’ The voice in his mind said mockingly. 

He was really starting to hate his conscience. Ok so he had gotten her scent off him because he wanted to hide her from his pack but was there really anything wrong with that? It wasn’t like there was anything to hide, but he knew if they knew he had a human prisoner they would want to have her for dinner and he had plans for her. She had the answers and he needed them. That was all this was and after he got them then his pack could do what they wanted with her. “Hell, I will even feed her to them myself!” He said as he puffed his chest out trying to sound bigger than he was feeling. Turns out he couldn’t trick himself when his mind let out a loud burst of laughter ‘Whatever you say.’ 

As Koga was walking toward the entrance through the haze that is mind was he thought he heard a familiar voice shout his name. He looked toward the upper rocks of the waterfall and found his two friends and loyal officers Ginta and Hakkaku waving. “Come down here you idiots!” Koga yelled in their direction and they started fumbling over each other to do as he said.

Koga couldn’t believe these were the men he had chosen to fight by his side and he rolled his eyes at himself knowing that the one reason he had chosen them was because they were the closet thing he had to immediate family. They had grown up together and learned to fight beside each other and no matter how bad they were at it Koga knew they would put their lives before him if need be. Ginta and Hakkaku finally made it to him and asked, “What’s up Koga?” at the same time. 

“Where ya been?” Ginta asked. 

“Been trying to wrap my head around some things. How have things been while I was gone?” Koga asked. 

“Fine, besides the fact that the pack has been worried about you.” Hakkaku answered this time.

“Yea ya just took off. We tried to calm everyone down, but some just weren’t havin’ it.” Ginta chimed in after his brother.

“Well, guess I am going to have to talk to them and explain myself.” Koga was feeling a bit guilty. He had just run off and left everyone who depended on him in their time of mourning and he hadn’t done what he set out to do. They had a right to be angry and scared, first their pack brothers are slaughtered and then their leader just takes off. Koga stood as tall as he could and made his way into the caves. As soon as he stepped in the entrance the common den was full of people and wolves alike.

They all turned in his direction and came running to his side. The cubs of the pack were all hugging him and jumping up and down in excitement, some others were yelling questions at him, and he could see a few just standing on the outer walls looking at him with nothing but anger in their faces. Everything was getting to claustrophobic for Koga. so he stuck his hands in the air and growled out “BACK OFF!” Instantly everyone quieted and stood away from him. “I am sorry I yelled” He said mostly to the children but still meaning it for the others as well. 

“I know you all have been worried and angry, but I am here to explain.” Koga walked over and sat on a high rock that most of the wolves liked to lounge on because a little bit of sun leaked in from above. As he sat down a grey-haired woman stepped forward and crossed her arms in front of her and looked in Koga’s direction as she angrily said “Well, explain.”

Koga took this as his cue to start that everyone was listening, but he sat there for a moment as quiet as he had ever been in his life. He couldn’t tell them the whole truth because it could make him seem weak if they knew he had left to escape his pain. So, he answered them the only way he could “I left to seek answers to who it was that killed our brethren. I still have not found out who it was yet that is why I came to check on you and I will be leaving again shortly.” He heard a roar of voices rise and once again he found his head filling with screaming. 

Next thing he knew the room quieted and the same female seemed to speak for everyone. “You’re leaving us again. Do you not realize we have lost half the pack? Our numbers are low, and our defense is down. Yet you are planning to leave again.”

“What is your name?” Koga asked. He was feeling guilty and angry at this woman’s words and part of him wanted to rip her apart but she, like everyone, deserved answers so he would answer them.

“My name is Chiho.” She said while giving a slight bow in Koga’s direction.

“Well, Chiho, you are right, I am leaving again but do not worry I will be back, I am close to finding the bastard who killed our family and when I do I will bring him back for justice to be served.” He said feeling his pride being challenged a bit.

“What does that leave us to do with you gone?” She asked. 

“The females are to do what they have always done, and the males will do as they have been taught which is to hunt and protect. I will leave Ginta and Hakkaku here in charge of everything while I am away and if anything happens I am sure they will find me. Does that please you sister?” Koga was kind of getting bored with this woman, Chiho, but he had to admit she was rightfully named. He dropped himself down from the rock and stepped up to her trying to look as dominate as he could to tell her not to question him any further and if the look in her eyes was telling the truth, she had gotten the hint. 

Her voice came out shaky as she answered “Yes.” 

“Good, now I have things to get for my journey. Ginta come here.” Ginta took no time at all to be by his side and everyone else seemed to go about their business. “I need you to find me some new fur pelts, the thicker the better.” Ginta stared at Koga with a look of confusion on his face.

“But Koga, its summer wouldn’t the thinner pelts be better?” As soon as he said it Koga gave him a low throaty growl warning him not to make him mad and he made a ‘yelp’ sound and ran off to do as he was told. Next Koga had Hakkaku go to the healer and get him some healing equipment like wraps and ointments. Koga himself went to his private den to gather some new clothing. As he looked around he noticed the chest that use to belong to his mother and something made him decide to open and find some of her furs in the bottom.

He didn’t know why he cared to pack them, but he was sure it would come to him when it was supposed to. 

He packed up all the supplies, waved goodbye to his pack, and started heading back to the southern end of the mountains all the while whistling to himself.


	13. Emotions

Sango woke up when the sun started to shine in her eyes and found she felt oddly warm. Yes, it was summer but in the area they were in it was always comfortable early morning. As she laid still and tried to wake up all the way she realized it wasn’t only heat she was feeling but weight as if someone was on her. She lifted the blanket and stared down at the arm wrapped around her stomach and knew instantly who it was so close to her. Before she could think about what she was doing she turned around and connected her hand with the face of the perverted monk who dared to touch her without permission. 

“Well, good morning to you as well, my dear Sango.” He said to her while rubbing his now red cheek with his wrapped hand. Sango hated the smug look on his face.

“How dare you, you hentai!” She screamed at him waking everyone else up. Miroku moved away scared of receiving anymore of Sango’s wrath this early in the morning.

“Please forgive me Sango. I didn’t mean anything by it.” He begged her forgiveness. 

Sango looked at Miroku and felt mildly guilty of her actions, so she only felt it right to forgive him this time anyway. “Fine, just don’t let it happen again.”  
As they were finishing up their fight Shippo hoped up in Sango’s lap and rubbed his still sleepy eyes. “Have you seen Inuyasha?” He asked. Miroku tilted his head up to look in the trees thinking he would find their companion there but not finding him after all. 

“Hmm.” He said scratching his chin. “Shippo I don’t think our hot-headed friend is anywhere near.” Hearing this Sango jumped up to get dressed in her slayer outfit as quick as she could.   
“He went ahead without us that jerk!” She said after she had dressed and started packing up their camp. Miroku hurried to help her and then load their things on Kilala. He sat himself behind Sango on the flying Neko demon with Shippo seating on his shoulder holding on as best his little grip would allow. “Well, he won’t get away with it.” Sango said as she took Kilala to the sky.   
Miroku laughed and answered, “Indeed he won’t fair Sango.” Knowing what lied ahead for poor Inuyasha once Sango found him.

Inuyasha was dodging trees right and left trying to keep up with Kikyo’s soul collectors who had convinced him to follow them. They were going so fast and he was afraid he might lose them at any moment until the forest opened into a small clearing surrounded by dense trees. At the base of one of the largest oak trees he saw Kikyo sitting on the roots running her hand over her soul collecting demon as if he was her beloved pet. 

He stood there just staring at her for what felt like ages her black hair was pulled up in the same style she used to wear it so long ago and she was wearing her old red and white priestess uniform. Her bow and arrows were laying a little way from her and she looked just as he remembered her until she looked at him.

Her eyes looked empty, completely drained of the life and happiness Inuyasha had once seen in them. His nose caught the scent of clay and graveyard dirt, which made his insides turn threatening to make him sick. All he could manage to say was just simply “Kikyo?” 

Kikyo stood to her feet and started walking towards Inuyasha. “Inuyasha, you came.” Her voice still sounded like it used to and even though he knew in his heart this was not his Kikyo, the one he used to love so long ago his mind and body was defying him with a whole other reaction. He stepped up to her and circled her in his arms as she did the same and rested her head on his chest. As she did all other thoughts were forgotten Inuyasha couldn’t help but feel complete again holding her in his arms. Memories flooded his vision and his heart swelled with joy that he hadn’t felt in years. As he held her he could feel her shaking “Kikyo, what is it?” He asked as worry started to take over. 

She lifted her head from his chest and looked him lovingly into the eyes and lowered her voice to a whisper “Inuyasha do you care for me?’ She asked him. Inuyasha’s mind was reeling. Why would she think he didn’t? Was something wrong? As all these questions ran in his mind Kikyo searched his face and waited silently for his answer. As he was about to answer her Kagome’s face popped up in his mind and he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and another wave of guilt swept over him and before he could answer or say anything Kikyo reached up and cupped his cheek and gently brought her lips to his in a kiss and asked “Well?” 

Inuyasha once again was in a fog from Kikyo’s actions as he closed his eyes and placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes “Yes!” Was all he could manage to say!

Koga walked into the caves and placed all the items in his den and walked down the hallway to check on Kagome as he did the scent of salt hit him dead in the face. He sped up his pace and looked in the cell to find Kagome wrapped in the furs curled into a ball crying silently. Before he could think about his actions he had opened the cell and made his way to her and kneeled beside her “Kagome, what’s wrong?” He asked surprised at the sound of sympathy in his voice. 

She rolled over and Koga saw the tears staining her cheeks as they made their way to the floor below “What do you care?” She asked trying to sound angry but just causing herself to cry even harder and next thing she knew Koga had lifted her up and placed her in his lap.

He used his claw to move the tear soaked hair from her cheek and used the coarse pad of his thumb to wipe the tears from her eyes “Because I do.” He said, and Kagome was surprised to find nothing but seriousness written on his face. She felt oddly comforted and found she couldn’t stop herself when she laid her head on his chest armor and allowed herself to cry as he held her.   
Koga had never tried to comfort anyone before and at first, he just awkwardly patted her back as she sobbed on his armor but then he heard himself saying “Shhh...It’s ok; it’s going to be ok.” His mind was telling him that he was being too soft, but Koga couldn’t find it in him to drop the girl as it was telling him to do. As he was fighting with himself Kagome reached up and cleared her eyes and pushed herself out of his lap and pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Her face looked so red and was blotchy from the tears and Koga couldn’t ignore the feeling he was experiencing. His chest hurt he had never felt this for anyone other than his tribe before and it confused him why he felt it now. He watched her as she rubbed the place on her arm where the whip had cut her, and he noticed it was a bit swollen and yellow; he knew the first signs of infection when she saw them. He stood up and made his way back to the den and rummaged through the pack to get some items out and went back to Kagome. 

As soon as he entered the room before Kagome could blink he had picked her up off the floor and carried her in his arms bridal style out of the cell while placing a bundle of items in her arms. “What’s this?” Kagome asked making Koga smile at her curiosity. 

“You will find out.” Was all he said to her as he took her out of the caves.


	14. Hot Springs

Kagome was once again in the whirlwind of Koga’s speed as he took her up the mountain side. All she could do was hold on as tight as her bruised fingers would allow her. This time at least she wasn’t getting the sick feeling in her stomach ‘thank kami for small favors.’ The wind was hurting her cold tear swollen eyes, so she closed them as tight as she could and pushed her face into Koga’s chest. 

Above the howl of the wind she could hear him tell her “Almost there.” She couldn’t figure out where he was taking her maybe it was to throw her off the top of the mountain and be done with her. Her mind was flashing with images of her past. Images of her Mom’s smile, Sota playing video games while Buyo purred and pleaded with him for attention, the look of wonder on Grandpa’s face when he got a new ancient something or other at the shrine, her friends gathered around the fire before going to sleep, laughing and talking, Shippo and Kilala playing together, and finally Inuyasha, her first love, the half-demon she had come to care about very much. 

Just as her heart was clenching in the grief that she may never see any of them again Koga came to a complete stop. Kagome raised her head up to look him in the face and saw him staring at her with what looked like concern for her. She opened her mouth finally after searching his face for some clue as to what he was thinking and asked, “Is your plan to kill me now?’ 

Koga let his slight smile drop he didn’t know what had possessed him to do what he was doing but he found it hurt him for her to think he meant her any harm. Another part of him was telling him he deserved this girl not to trust him, but it didn’t make his guilt feel any better. Now that he had Kagome outside in the sunlight the consequences of his actions were as plain as day. Her face was thinning out and covered in purple and yellow bruises from where he had grabbed her, her once red lips had now paled and were severely chapped, she had dark circles around her eyes from the lack of sleep, her neck was much the same with the addition of dried blood and swollen cuts from his claws, the burn mark was healing slightly to his surprise but looked infected and the skin around was peeling horribly, and her arms and legs were swollen and bruised all up and down. 

Koga’s stomach twisted. How could he have done this? As he looked Kagome in her deep brown eyes he noticed he didn’t see any life in them. As his heart was constricting his voice gave away to the tone of his sadness when he finally told her “No Kagome, look around.” He watched as she moved her head around to take in her surroundings.

“It’s so beautiful. Where are we?” She asked Koga after finally letting her eyes adjust to the light and the views around her. She realized instead of being on the top of the mountain like she thought she was instead met with a flat spot of land that was surrounded with large walls of rock that was covered in moss and beautiful flower vines. At the top of the wall was a beautiful waterfall that the sunlight reflected off making it possible for Kagome to see every ripple of water as it fell calmly.

As her eyes followed the waterfall down she saw nothing but steamy calm water below and it finally hit her how bad her body was hurting. If her throat would allow her she would probably scream from the ache her muscles where finally giving her. Not to say she didn’t already know her body was hurting in the first place. Koga could smell the fear leaving her and being replaced by the sent that he found so intoxicating and as hard as he tried he couldn’t stop smirking from the happiness it brought him. He stared at Kagome as she turned to look at him and said “My pack’s private hot springs. Do you like them?” 

“It’s breath-taking.” Kagome answered truthfully. She had never seen anything so pretty in her life. “Why did you bring me here?’ She was overly curious to hear his answer. 

“Your wounds need to be cleaned before you get a worse infection, and am I wrong in thinking you would like to change clothes?” He couldn’t believe he had just said that and his face couldn’t hide the shock of his own mouth’s betrayal because Kagome was staring at him with a look of confusion and wonder on her face until she finally found her voice to say something.

Koga was equally surprised at her words “Yes, thank you.” She gave him a slight smile. Koga couldn’t help but feel good in that moment when she smiled at him and he couldn’t understand why he was feeling so pleased he had made her happy.  
Koga walked forward towards the bank of the springs. Once he reached it he gently placed her down on the edge of the bank and put her legs in the water. Kagome winced at the pain of the water hitting her battered legs and Koga automatically said “Sorry this will hurt at first. Are you able to handle it?” Kagome sat with her legs in the water and her whole body was tensed up as she nodded her head in answer to him. Koga was sure she was in pain by her body language alone but the smell she was radiating was the best clue. She smelt like a swirl of emotions and Koga decided then and there he would have to help her to keep the pain to a minimum.

He stood up and started undoing his chest armor and placed it on the ground beside Kagome, and then he took his shoulder furs off, and his leg wrappings. Kagome looked up to see Koga only in his fur pelt and felt a blush rush onto her face. Koga could smell something like the scent of lavender flowers being cooked in spices and noticed the smell was coming from Kagome herself. ‘Is that what I think it is? No couldn’t possibly.’ 

He stared at her for a moment listening to all the questions running through his head. Finally, he bent down and stared into her eyes as they were locked on him like a deer in a trance. Koga felt the pride swell in his chest at the scent of what he took to be arousal all around her and let the wolfish grin spread across his face as he leaned close to her and whispered “Let’s get you washed up.” 

Kagome snapped out of the trance she was holding on Koga. With his armor now stripped off she could see his muscular chest for the beauty it was. He was well defined and the steam from the water was making him sweat leaving the light from the sun to dance off the sweat beads that were starting to roll down. Kagome could do nothing but look away and bite her lip from shame of what that image of Koga was doing to her before she answered back shakily “Sure!”

Sango and Miroku had flown on Kilala for half the afternoon trying to search the woods for any sign of Inuyasha but they hadn’t had much luck and Kilala was starting to tire quickly. Sango had no choice but to tell her friends that they needed to land for a break. She was shaking with anger. She knew the direction to the Eastern territory but she ‘unlike some jerks’ knew she couldn’t go unless everyone was with her. She wanted to find Kagome just as much as Inuyasha did, but she still couldn’t believe he went off on his own to find her without a thought to how she and the others would feel.

As her and Miroku was finally getting off Kilala the Neko demon let out a slight growl and started staring to the left of them. “What is it, Sango?” Asked Miroku in a hushed voice unsure if he should speak louder in fear of danger. Sango reached her hand down and gave her companion a pet on the neck to try and calm her down. Before she knew it Kilala took off through the dense area of trees and stopped just before the opening of what looked like a forest bed.

Sango gave Miroku a cautious look as she started to walk forward and see what was ahead. She wrapped her hand around Hiraikotsu ready to use it if anything should choose to attack. She looked at Miroku who had his staff also at the ready for such an occasion. They both walked silently forward through the trees and both gasped at the picture they saw.


	15. Guilt

Kagome watched as Koga lowered himself into the water. The area of water he was in came up to just under his chest and Kagome couldn’t help but to feel nervous all over again. She knew she needed Koga’s help to wash because she couldn’t even stand on her own legs, but she had never done anything like this before and she really didn’t know if she wanted Koga to be the first person she ever did.

As she was sitting trying to figure out her feelings and calm herself down she felt Koga’s arms grab around her waist and pick her up off the bank of the springs. “Wait my clothes!” She shirked out nervously. She could feel Koga’s chest rise and fall against her as he let out a small laugh. She smiled at the sound of it.

“What are you laughing for?” She asked him.

“Well, you surprise me is all.” Koga answered back.

“Really, How so?” She was curious to what was running through his head but there was a tiny voice in the back of her mind screaming at her wondering why she even cared to ask. The man who had put her through hell was now trying to bathe her and why didn’t she think this was some trick to torment her further. The thought alone made Kagome start to shake and her smile left instantly.

Koga noticed a shift in her scent and looked at her with one eye brow cocked in the air. “You worry about your clothes when the real worry should be how bad this is going to hurt your wounds.” He found his mind was stuck on the change in her scent more than he would like. ‘Why did she seem so scared?’ Now that he took the time to think about it she was shaking. ‘The water was as hot as any natural spring could be, so there was no way she could be cold. Had he said something wrong?’ He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked her in the eyes.

Kagome seemed to be gazing into her own little world. He pulled one hand up and put it to her cheek making her jump and swat his hand away. He was shocked by her actions; maybe he had done something to scare her. Here he thought he had made it clear she could trust him not to hurt her, but his mind wouldn’t let up on how he couldn’t blame anyone but himself if she didn’t believe it.

Kagome couldn’t believe she saw what looked like hurt on Koga’s face. Even though she fought it as much as she could she couldn’t lie that she felt slightly guilty to have put it there. She lowered her head and said in a voice as quiet as a mouse “Sorry.” As her head sank down she felt Koga put his finger under her chin and lift it again to look at him. 

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” He said looking her straight in the eye. “I do not blame you for not trusting me and I don’t expect you to, but right now I need you to believe that I am going to try and not hurt you as much as I can. Can you do that for me Kagome?” Koga wasn’t stupid to think he had any standing with her to trust him because he had hurt her so badly, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he wanted her to regardless. He silently hated himself for all these mixed feelings.

As much as she tried Kagome couldn’t sense any sort of deceit in Koga’s words so against her better judgment she decided to believe him for now. “Ok, I can do that, I think.” Koga smiled at her and started to move further in the water towards a cluster of rocks that sat lower in the water like seats. Koga warned Kagome that there was going to be pain when he sat her down, so she braced herself against it and dug her nails into Koga’s shoulders. Without thinking she felt herself releasing her powers out into her hands and before she could stop herself she was burning Koga’s back.  
Koga couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but his back was on fire and he could feel something like electricity fighting against his aura that was trying to protect him. He couldn’t hold it back when his demon side took over. It was trying to find the source to the pain and once it did its only thought was to kill. His eyes were blood red and his claws extended. As his demon side looked around trying to sense out the aura of his attacker, he settled on Kagome whose face was tensed up from the pain of the water on her lower wounds but what surprised him was the pinkish light she was emitting around her like electricity aimed right at him.

Before his demonic side could hurt her Koga found sanity long enough to push Kagome away from him gently onto the rocks. As soon as he was a few inches away he could see her turn away as much as she could from him. “You’re a damn priestess!” His mind was reeling so the pureness of her blood, the tingling feeling, and the power mixed in her scent. It was all starting to make sense to him now and why he couldn’t think of it before was beyond him. Koga had only run across one priestess his entire life as tribe leader and it wasn’t necessarily a battle he wanted to recall. His inner wolf was literally whimpering at the thought of the pain he suffered.

Kagome slowly turned back around with the look of shame on her face. “I am sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t mean to. This is all new to me and I haven’t really gotten it under control yet.” She rang her fingers to the point she knew she was bruising them more than they already were. She didn’t want to feel guilty and everything was telling her she should have taking the chance to do this way soon than now but the look of fear on Koga’s face was stopping her from agreeing with it at all. 

Koga’s wasn’t daring to move any closer and all Kagome could see was the shaky rise and fall of his chest. She was beginning to give up on him saying anything and started to pull her legs up on to the rock when he finally came back over. “Dammit Kagome, I almost killed you.” He placed his hands on both sides of her head and Kagome’s breath caught in her sore throat.

He was searching her face and the look on his wasn’t of anger but regret. Kagome was confused to why he would let his guard down to show her such an emotion but all she could do was apologize again and pull her head out of his gentle hold. Koga then let out a laugh and said, “Don’t be sorry, like I said before you keep surprising me.” 

“Yea I am a real mystery!” Kagome said sarcastically. “A real freak if you ask me.” ‘Why did she tell him that? She hadn’t even told her best friend that she had felt that way? Why was she even apologizing?’ Days ago, she would have said he deserved to feel half the pain he had given to her and she would have been proud at herself for doing it, what was wrong with her now? As all these thoughts were going through her head she didn’t even notice when Koga had picked up the cloth and started cleaning her wounds till he was done and asked her to let him hold her while he helped her wash her hair. Kagome nodded her head despite hardly hearing him over her thoughts. 

Koga lifted Kagome back up bridal style and told her to lean her head back into the water and as she did, Koga scrubbed her scalp gently with the soap that some of the females of his pack used on themselves. He watched as her eyes shut, and she relaxed in his hold, but he wasn’t prepared for her to groan her contentment and it shocked him to feel his body react to it. His chest once again tightened, and he felt a burn in his groin that he had never felt before. He tried his hardest to ignore these feelings and help Kagome rinse out the soap the best he could.

After he was done he carried Kagome back to the shallow bank she was originally sitting on and lifted himself out of the water. “I have a change of clothes for you if you would like them.” He said while bending down by Kagome who was now shivering from the cool wind that was blowing. “Yeee…yeeesss!” She answered through chattering teeth.

Koga walked over to the pile of items he had brought to the springs with them and pulled out his mother’s furs he had packed and handed them to Kagome before helping her behind a bush that would hide her from his view while she changed into them. Kagome found it easier to lean on the nearby tree while putting on the change of clothes Koga had offered than it was to try and stand on her own. Koga had told her he was just on the other side if she needed him getting dressed himself, she guessed. 

She looked at the bundle of clothes in her arms and noticed they were made of fur like Koga’s, but they were a dark grey in color. She found the bottom and decided it would be easiest to put it on first but when she did she couldn’t help but wish she had tried to keep her school skirt. The fur wrap went to just below her rear end and it was a loose-fitting material that seemed to leave little to the imagination, but she had to admit the material was softer than her skirt any day. 

After finally adjusting to the feel of the skirt, she started unbuttoning her top and threw it on the ground while she looked at her bra. “Looks like I am going to have to lose it.” She was disappointed because it was one of her most comfortable bras that she had but it was ripped and stained. She took it off and let it land with the shirt on the ground and took the other piece of fur in her hands to put it on. She had to admit she loved the top it was sleeveless, and the neck didn’t dip down but instead wrapped around her neck attached to a piece of cloth that reminded her of how a choker would be. She pulled her hair to the side and started ringing it out the best her pained arm would let her to dry it. 

Koga couldn’t help but be tired of waiting so he went around to Kagome’s side to see how close she was to being done but he was stopped in his tracks at the sight of Kagome in the furs he had lent her. “Wow!” was all he could manage to get out of his mouth and his inner wolf seemed to be stunned into agreement.


	16. Regret

He wrapped her hair around his fingers and deepened the kiss between them. In this moment she was her old self, she was Kikyo. The smell of dirt and death wasn’t present. She tasted the same as she did when he first kissed her fifty years ago. She tasted of strawberries and herbs it reminded him of a beautiful summer day. She smelt of magic and wildflowers. The thoughts and scents made him dizzy before Inuyasha could stop it he was lost in a dream world.

One he had dreamt of ever since she pinned him to the God Tree and left him to sleep away her fifty-year death. A dream of an empty field full of wildflowers. Inuyasha sat amongst the flowers watching over two little children both with black hair and amber eyes. They are running around causing the pollen to wave through the air as their clothes caught the flowers they go between. He seems happy; no not seems, he is beyond it. For the first time in his life he is happy. He is human, and he is happy. 

As he watches the children play he can feel in his heart she is near; the love of his life, the mother of his children, and the one person he had given up everything he originally was for. He stands to meet her, and she wraps her arms around his back and buries her head between his shoulders. “I love you Inuyasha!” She exclaims. He turns around to face her and give her a kiss that he has been waiting for what seemed forever to give her. “I love you, Kagome!” 

Inuyasha’s eyes snapped open and like that the dream was gone. He looked down to find Kikyo staring at him with a blank stare. Her lips were still slightly swollen from their heated kissing session but other than that there was no evidence of contact what so ever. Her arms were cold wrapped around his body and her skin was pale and void of the flush she used to have in her cheeks. “Do you not love me?” She asked with a suspicious look on her face. 

“The dream...” Was all he was able to get out. He had had that dream over and over and it had always been Kikyo who he spoke those words to. Why was it Kagome? 

“Inuyasha, do you love me?” She asked again while pulling his confused face to look at her. “Tell me you love me, and you will go to hell with me.” Her expression was one trying for sadness but Inuyasha could see the true feelings she was trying to cover. She was hiding her hate and anger that only her soul could feel. The only thing she had gotten back from Kagome when the witch tried to give Kikyo back her life. Again, Inuyasha was fighting his heart telling himself this was not Kikyo in his arms; his Kikyo was dead. 

Suddenly he heard a twig snap and a huge gasp come from behind them. Inuyasha pushed Kikyo behind him so he could protect her from whatever danger had stumbled upon them. His claws were embedding themselves in the hilt of Tessaiga. He was about to pull it out and slay who had dared ruin his time with Kikyo when he recognized a very angry Sango being held back from him by a very red faced and scratched monk.

“What the hell Sango?” Inuyasha had the nerve to scream at her. She could feel her blood boil even more than before and Miroku’s grip grew tighter on her arm as she struggled even more in his hold. 

“Let go of me monk!” Sango screamed at Miroku. She had never wanted to hurt him so badly before. Yes, his pervert ways caused her to slap him constantly, but she had never felt like murdering him before this moment. She turned her head to face him and Miroku could see the flames in her eyes. 

“You know I can’t let you hurt Inuyasha, he is our friend.” Miroku said through a struggled breath he never knew this tiny girl had so much strength in her.

Inuyasha was confused. “Miroku, what is going on?” He asked hoping for any kind of answer as to why Sango was now trying to release her Hiraikotsu from it holder on her back hitting Miroku in the head repeatedly during the attempts. 

Miroku had finally calmed down Sango enough by hugging her close to him with her hands restrained to her side but her breathing was still elevated, and he could swear he was seeing steam coming from her ears. “Well, dear friend...” he started saying to Inuyasha while trying to control his own breathing. “You have seemed to have made our dear Sango here very angry.” He finished before Sango started thrashing around in his hold again this time kicking her legs out in front of her trying to knock Miroku over to escape. 

“Well I see that you idiot, but why is she mad at me?” He said. 

Sango’s head snapped up to face him and inside Inuyasha wanted to flinch at her stare, it was one that promised death if he dared challenge her. “Why, Why, Why?!” She asked with each why getting louder than the previous one. “I could only imagine it could be because Kagome is god knows where having god knows what done to her and you are here with your dead priestess bitch like she doesn’t even matter!” She finally caught her breath and stared him down.

Hearing Sango yell at him, was like having someone hit him over the head. He had completely forgotten about looking for Kagome the moment he kissed Kikyo. The guilt he felt before suddenly hit him fully like a very large boulder. He let go of his swords hilt slowly and his hand moved to grip the material of his fire rat robe. He couldn’t remember, why he had forgotten, and he felt horrible for it and Sango stopped fighting the monk as she watched his eyes widen and his ears flatten to his head.

A new anger emerged as she realized the real reason behind his expression of guilt. Her eyes flared again as she quickly stocked over to him and grabbed a patch of material from his upper robe in her fist and looked in to his shocked stare. “You forgot her, didn’t you?” She growled out at him.

When Inuyasha didn’t answer her, she searched his face and found the answer in his sad expression. One of pure disappointment in himself. As she stood there she looked behind Inuyasha to find Kikyo there with nothing more than a smirk on her face.


	17. Surprise

“What?” Kagome asked the now stunned wolf demon standing in front of her as she wrapped her arms in front of her chest. “What if I wasn’t dressed yet and you just come bragging over here like you just don’t care…seriously what are you staring at?” She said loudly while staring back at Koga with a look of confusion on her face. Hearing her voice rise with anger Koga finally snapped out of his trance. 

He pulled his hand behind his head and rubbed the back of his neck and started to stare at the ground instead. “Sorry, I was just surprised by you in my mother’s furs.”   
Kagome was shocked. “These are your mother’s? Won’t she miss them?”

Koga looked at Kagome and let out an amused chuckle before his face fell to one of sadness. “No, she won’t miss them. My mother is no longer among the pack. She died a year after my father did.” Kagome’s heart sank a bit for him. Her father had passed away before she was born. She didn’t know him more than what people told her but that didn’t make it hurt any less.  
She still had her mother though and she could never imagine the pain of living without her. “I am sorry to hear that.” She said. Her features softened out of sympathy as she looked at Koga. Suddenly she realized something that she hadn’t before, and her hand came to her mouth as she let out a big gasp. 

Koga rushed to her to help steady her. His mind was racing, wondering what was wrong he searched all around the area for anything he may have missed and sniffed the air to see if he could smell anyone who could be hiding from sight. “Kagome what’s the matter?” He asked with the slightest worry in his voice. He didn’t see anyone or smell anything besides the springs and Kagome, so she hadn’t seen anyone and as far as it looked she wasn’t hurt on the outside. He couldn’t smell blood, so he doubted she was newly injured.

As he was going through a list of checks in his mind Kagome looked up at it with a mix of confusion and wonder on her face and asked, “How did I miss the fact you have jewel shards?”   
Kagome felt so stupid to not have seen them before. ‘Why didn’t I see them? Was it because of the loss of energy or because I have been in that dark cave for days?’ As her mind was too busy asking questions she missed the look of complete shock on Koga’s face. Finally, after he found his voice again he gripped Kagome by her upper arms and asked her roughly “How did you know I had shards?” 

“Because I can see them, you idiot!” She pulled herself out of Koga’s strong grip and pushed him back a step which caused her to slightly lose the balance she was keeping with the help of the tree she was leaning on. “I can’t believe I missed it I usually sense them even if I can’t see them right away, but I see them now, you have three. One in your arm and one in each leg.” As she was explaining this to Koga, a question dawned on her. “Is that why you took me? Did you take me to help you find jewel shards?” 

Koga’s mind was spinning he had never heard of a priestess with this kind of power, one who could not only sense the jewel shards but see them as well. This tiny human girl kept surprising him in every way and at this moment he honestly wanted to admit, it was getting annoying. Her question struck a chord in Koga and angered him. “No, you stupid wench I took you because you know something about the deaths of my pack members. I didn’t know you were a priestess or that you could see the jewel until now and I found the first out after you attacked me with your powers.” He answered gruffly as he watched her legs collapse from under her.

He wanted to feel sorry for her, but he couldn’t this human had made him forget somehow what he was trying to do in the first place and now his anger was leaving him not very sympathetic.   
“I told you before I didn’t have anything to do with your pack members; that was Naraku! As for my so called attacking you, I said I was new to all this and I am not good at controlling it. I believe I even said sorry!” She screamed up at him. “You beat the hell out of me I don’t even know why I apologized. Now I know you deserved it. I should have burned you worse and if I could, I would. You Jerk!” She was angry at him and it was causing her to lose all sense of why she ever thought anything more of him.

She was trying to stand back up but her still useless legs was making that task very difficult, so she finally gave up and sat on the ground. ‘Stupid legs if I could just get them to hold my weight I could probably get away’ She thought as she looked beyond Koga to the path that led down the mountain. 

Koga crouched in front of her and put both hands on the tree on either side of Kagome’s head. “You said that name before and that alone tells me you know something about my pack even if you didn’t have a hand in it. Your scent was there along with those friends of yours and of that half-demon hiding behind the baboon suit. I don’t know how you did it, but you made me forget what I should be doing.” 

He couldn’t stop the growl that came from his throat and he could feel the wood splintering under the pressure of his claws as he pushed them into it to try and suppress the rage he was feeling. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid it was obvious this girl had made him into a fool. “You used some sort of priestess shit on me and made me forget.”

Kagome hated to admit the look of rage in Koga’s eyes was scaring her and causing her to shake. Despite her fear she was madder than she had ever been at Koga’s audacity. “You think I put a spell on you or something?” She asked as she stared straight into Koga’s intense angry face. “Like I said all this is new to me. How do you expect someone who can’t even control her powers to do something like that?” She pushed out her chest determined not to show him how scared he was making her under her fake confidence. 

Her voice was shaky no matter how hard she tried to stop it. “Like I said before I thought you were supposed to be smart being a wolf and all.” She stuck out her tongue at him and shocked herself by the action of bravery. 

Koga searched her face while she talked and took note of the fact he couldn’t smell any scent that was giving away she wasn’t telling the truth. All he could smell was the fear her body language was trying to hide. As he sat and listened to her he couldn’t help but agree how stupid it sounded to himself to think she had bewitched him into not killing her and he admitted it kind of disappointed him to think that all the regret he was feeling was brought on by himself. 

He had hurt Kagome badly and some part of him had made him regret doing so and that made him question more things than he wanted to think about now. Once again, he was getting a headache. Just as he was starting to let his body relax out of its threatening stance Kagome stuck her tongue out at him after once again calling him stupid. His mouth slacked open at the stubbornness of this stupid human girl. Here she was being threatened once again by a demon that could easily kill her since she has no control over the only power that could save her, and she finds the strength to fight her fear and be brave in the strangest ways. 

Kagome stared back at Koga’s stunned face. Before she could even find the moment to be proud of herself for putting that stupid look on his face, Koga leaned in and pressed his lips to hers roughly. Kagome found it was her turn to be stunned.


	18. Purity

Kagome couldn’t breathe; her eyes were open as wide as they could go, and the moment seemed to pass as slow as ever. She had never kissed someone before, well unless you count that time that Hojo surprise kissed her under the mistletoe at the middle school dance a year ago. Even then it was nothing like this. Koga was trying to fight for entrance into her mouth and all Kagome could do was place her hands on his chest and push. Before she could think against it she had burned him again. The burning made Koga come to his senses and he jumped away from Kagome with a look of anger on his face. 

“What was that for?” He said through a growl in his throat. He moved back towards Kagome whose mouth continued to hang open. As soon as he got within reach of her Kagome lifted her hand and slapped Koga so hard it stung her palm. Koga was beyond surprised, she had slapped him. He could not do anything more than stare at her with his hand rubbing his reddened cheek. Kagome couldn’t help but feel happiness at the look of astonishment on Koga’s face. 

“How dare you!” She screamed at him. “What is your problem?” She asked Koga. Her mind was running wild. This was the first time a boy had ever tried to kiss her and although she was surprised she couldn’t help but admit maybe she had felt something. Had she? She couldn’t figure it out her anger at him was clouding any judgment she had at the moment. All she could really think about was how this would make Inuyasha feel. Then again, why should she care? He had made it perfectly clear he loved Kikyo still and Kagome knew he didn’t feel for her the way she did him. Her heart started to beat faster from the guilt and sadness she was starting to feel. 

Koga growled “My problem, you burned and slapped me. I should ask you the same question.” 

Kagome was infuriated now. “You kissed me! I had every right to slap you but once again I didn’t mean to burn you. Why would you do that? You had no right to haul off and kiss me like that!” She rambled on with an angry babble that wasn’t only confusing just her, but she could see Koga was as well. 

Koga finally put his hands on either side of Kagome’s shoulders “Why are you so mad about a little kiss?” He asked. Then it dawned on him while he looked at Kagome’s face he could see and smell the sadness she was feeling. He really felt stupid now. Before she could start rambling again at him “That was your first kiss, wasn’t it?” He couldn’t believe it.

He knew she was inexperienced, but he didn’t think it meant completely. He assumed when he smelt the pureness on her it was from the fact she hadn’t been mated but he would have never thought it went further than just that. His head was pounding now, and he honestly was starting to feel guilty. 

“So, what if I haven’t kissed anyone before, that’s none of your business.” Kagome said while trying to fight back tears. “Where I come from a kiss is special, you don’t just go around kissing random people you don’t even know. I mean some do but to most it means something to kiss another person. That doesn’t make me weird or stupid.” Kagome realized she was crying now.   
As soon as Koga saw the tears he couldn’t stay mad anymore. He had hurt her again. Why this made him feel so bad he wasn’t sure but all he could do was pull Kagome into his hold and hug her “I am sorry Kagome.” She allowed him to hold her while she cried, and Koga had to admit it was nice. 

His guilt wasn’t allowing him to enjoy it as much as he would have. “I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to hurt you Kagome. I know that is hard to believe coming from me, but I really do mean it. I don’t know what is going on. One minute I was mad at you and the next, well.” Koga let his thoughts trail off. Why had he kissed her? Days ago, this girl was just a means to an end but now Koga had to admit she was starting to be more than that. 

After a few moments Kagome had finally stopped crying but she was still breathing raggedly. Koga continued to run his hand up and down her back. She finally pushed herself away from him and sat next to him under the tree. She looked up at the sky and continued to sit in silence before her curiosity got the better of her. “Can I ask you a question?” 

Koga let a small smirk show on his face as he shook his head and said “Sure, what is it?” 

“Why did you kidnap me in the first place?” Kagome knew she already had the answer to this question, but she thought it would be the best opener to get the answers she wanted. 

“You know the answer to that.” Koga said letting a huge sigh escape before looking at Kagome. She had her head tilted and the look on her face told Koga she wanted him to tell her anyway. “I took you because you looked like the weakest of your pack. I thought I could get the answers I needed out of you the easiest, but you surprised me. You took everything I had to dish out. You are stronger than normal humans.” Koga said while rubbing the back of his neck.

“So, you thought you could find out who killed your pack from me because I was a normal human?” Kagome couldn’t help but be slightly offended. 

“Yea, but like I said you surprised me. You took more than anyone would have. Most humans would have told me anything I wanted to know just by me threatening them. You acted as if you knew nothing no matter what I did.” Koga ran his thumb over the swollen burn mark on Kagome’s neck without thinking. He felt her flinch and quickly pulled away. “Sorry.” 

“I didn’t tell you anything Koga because I didn’t know what you were talking about.” Kagome admitted while waiting for the pain in her neck to subside. 

Koga’s head snapped toward her and Kagome could see his blue eyes start to tint red before he finally turned away from her and took ragged breaths to calm himself. “Like I said you were there I smelt your scent along with that filthy flea bag half demon.” 

Kagome let her anger move her and before she could put any thought into it she was up on her shaky legs with her hands balled into fist. “Inuyasha is not filthy. You don’t even know him, how dare you make assumptions about him; you have no right.” As she was yelling at him Koga jumped up and pressed against her. Kagome could feel his demonic aura start to fight against her for dominance. She could feel her legs starting to collapse under the weight of it. 

Koga could feel her aura sparking and his demon side was fighting back equally as hard trying to prove to Kagome that her powers were no match to him. He could see her stance start to falter but despite her losing her balance the anger never left her face. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “You act like you love him.”

Kagome couldn’t believe what she just heard. Before she could say anything back to him her legs gave out on her and she was collapsing to the ground. Despite the exchange earlier Koga still reached out to catch Kagome before she could hurt herself anymore. The look on her face told Koga his assumptions were true. “Well, a human cares for a demon.”


	19. Understanding

Kagome’s head hurt, and her body was shaking from trying to do more than she could. She finally fought through the pain in her head enough to open her eyes and when she did she noticed the headache hadn’t come from falling to the ground like she had thought. No, she wasn’t on the ground but instead wrapped in Koga’s arms. Her instincts were to push him away but her weak body betrayed her, and she used the last bit of strength she had to wrap her arms around his neck to stable herself. 

Koga felt her warm arms wrap around him and it make him stiffen. This girl was completely different from any other human he had ever met. She was strong, she was loyal, and if her actions taught him anything it was she cared for demons; or at least one. He looked into her shining brown eyes trying to figure out if she was ok but when he did he got lost staring at her.

Her hair had dried, and the light was glistening off it, her skin was a bit pale but that could be from dehydration, her face was beautiful if you looked past the bruises which hurt him to even look at, and she felt like a feather in his arms. She was small, but Koga knew that didn’t mean she wasn’t strong. He started to feel sick to his stomach looking at her. He had caused so much damage to her and he felt so sorry for it. Finally, he snapped out of his thoughts to realize she had been talking but before he could register a word of what she said he took in a deep breath and said, “I am so sorry.”

Kagome instantly stopped her ranting. “What did you say?” She had been telling him about Inuyasha and how even though she had stuck up for him that didn’t mean anything. She was telling him about how she cared for him but only as a friend besides he was in love with someone else that she couldn’t even compare to until he had said something that threw her off guard. She wondered if she had heard him right, so she had to ask, she had to know.

“I said I am so sorry. I know that might mean nothing to you but dammit Kagome I mean it. I was in so much pain for myself and my pack and I took it out on you and I am sorry for that.” Koga answered while wrapping his arms around Kagome tighter and moved her, so she was upright again. 

Kagome was shocked beyond belief. After everything Koga had done to her he was apologizing. She could do nothing but stare at him as he talked. His eyes looked glazed and they were open wide as if he was giving her a look into his soul and as she looked she had to admit she couldn’t find a speck of untruth in what he was telling her. He really was sorry but that still didn’t change what he had done to her. 

The worst part of her wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and show him how it feels to be hurt but the sane part of her knew with him being a demon she couldn’t really hurt him not with her powers so weak. After getting her thoughts together she cocked her head to the side and asked “Do you really think I want an apology. You nearly killed me, and you enjoyed it from the looks of it. Am I just supposed to forgive you just because you say you are sorry?” 

Koga knew it was a long shot and honestly, he had said it out of nowhere before he had a chance to catch himself, but he had said it and he was right she had turned him down. “I didn’t expect you to forgive me. I honestly don’t know what I expected but the fact remains I am sorry. My pack brothers were slaughtered and all I knew is I smelt your scent and I let my pain overshadow my judgment. If I could go back and do it all over again…” 

“You wouldn’t do it differently.” Kagome interrupted him. “You are being so honest don’t start feeding me lies now.”

Koga let his head drop. She was right, when this all first started all he could think about was answers and revenge. His actions were wrong but if he had to do it again his intentions would be the same. He would do what he thought at the time was right to avenge his pack. “You’re right. I wouldn’t do it differently because I couldn’t.” Koga saw the confusion flash on Kagome’s face as she listened.

“They were my pack Kagome, and now they are gone, and I am the tribal leader. I fought hard for my position and to protect my people and they were ripped from me. I was hurt, you don’t know how bad it felt when I saw them lying on the ground, the life taken from them. Families left alone for the rest of their lives. The grief I felt wasn’t just mine but that of my whole pack. I didn’t know you and all I knew is that everyone in that field had been there. They knew what had happened and yes, I chose you because I thought you were a weak human. I have admitted I was wrong about that. Anyone who can care for a demon couldn’t have had a hand in that kind of slaughter. I took my pain out on you, but Kagome I just wanted answers, I had to have answers. I know me saying sorry doesn’t mean anything but like I said doesn’t mean I don’t mean it all the same.” 

Koga thought he saw tears in Kagome’s eyes after he was done speaking. It took a minute for the smell of them to hit his nose but when they did he couldn’t help but to feel ashamed all over again. He dropped his head away from Kagome’s gaze. 

Kagome could feel the tears falling down her cheeks as she looked at Koga. He had been so open with her and from what she could tell none of it was a lie. Part of her was still angry but the biggest part of her knew how he felt. “My father was murdered.” She hadn’t told anyone this and she didn’t know why she was telling Koga now. Her friends knew but only because their parents had grown up together and they had heard the story. “He was at the store where I live, and he was shot during a robbery.” At this point Koga was staring at her with sadness in his eyes. “I was still a baby I never got to meet him but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.” Kagome felt the tears flow faster than before and before she could drop her head Koga put both hands on her face and started wiping away the tears. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Koga asked.

“I guess I am trying to say I know what you are going through.” Kagome hated to admit it, but she did. When her mother had told her, what had happened to her father she remembered how it had hurt. For years she believed her father had just left but to find out he was taken from her it broke her heart. She had been mad at him for so long and it was wrong. When she found out the guy who had done it hadn’t been caught she remembered wanting to hurt them. Find out why they did it.

So, she had to admit she understood why Koga did to her what he had. The only thing different is that someone knew who had hurt his family and that was her, so she took a long breath and looked Koga straight in the eyes and said “Naraku, he is the one who killed them. Well not him his incarnation named Kagura did, but he told her to. They are who you want Koga.” 

Koga felt his chest start to hurt as he stared at Kagome. She had told him, she had given the target for his pain. That was something he could work with. All he could do was pull Kagome tight against him and hug her. “Thank you, Kagome. You don’t know what this means.” 

Kagome allowed Koga to hug her before giving over to hugging him back and saying, “Yes I do.” As they stood there lost in their hug they missed the fact that they were not alone.


	20. Seen

All that was reaching his ears were the distant sounds of Miroku and Sango yelling at each other. Shippo was trying to help Miroku hold Sango’s furious self from hurting Inuyasha any further. He couldn’t understand why they would care he deserved to be hurt. He had completely forgotten about the one person who had never forgotten about him. 

No, they hadn’t known each other long but she was the only friend he had in a world full of hate. She had seen all his sides and still she treated him like a human rather than a disgusting half-demon. He had been so mad at her for getting herself caught by some stupid demon and he had called her all these horrible names because of his anger and little did he know he was the horrible one. When she needed him the most he had let her down. He had run off to Kikyo the minute he knew he could. What kind of person does that make him?

Kikyo stood by the root of the tree watching the scene before her. She had come with every intention of bringing Inuyasha to where he deserved but as she looked at him now head hung low and ears firmly pinned to his head. His claws were digging into his own hands so hard they were causing him to draw blood. She couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face because even though she didn’t get to drag him to hell once again little did he realize that because of her he sure was one foot ahead of her already. She leaned against the tree and lifted her head to the sky and let out a laugh that would have frozen hell over if given the chance.

The struggling stopped, and the arguing quit as soon as the laugh hit everyone’s ears. Sango pulled her arms firmly out of her friends grasp “What is so funny?’ Her face was turning 5 shades of red thinking the long dead priestess found her to be a spectacle.

Kikyo put her hand on her mouth and moved gracefully to the front of the crowd. Inuyasha could do nothing but stare at her with a shocked expression. He had never heard her laugh in such a way in all the time they spent together, and he had to admit it made her sound even less human than any of her regular emotions did. She came up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder and said, “I don’t think you would understand even if I explained.”

“Lady Kikyo, I don’t understand what you are trying to say.” Miroku was standing stone still like the others but he couldn’t help but let his curiosity get the better of him in this situation.

“Of course, you don’t monk, that is what I am saying. Inuyasha however does. Don’t you my sweet?” She looked at him with those empty eyes once again but this time he swore he could see what looked like the ghost of amusement on her face.  
She thought that this was all a game and he had been played for the fool this whole time. She had won this round of the one-sided game and he had lost. Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something but all he could do was close it again. This was Kikyo, he had hurt her and caused her death more than 50 years ago and he had no right to fight back. All he could do was lower his head once more and walk back to the river from the direction he had come.

Sango watched in horror as he walked away. “What do you mean by all this Lady Kikyo?” She couldn’t believe Inuyasha had left like that. She hadn’t known the others for very long, but she knew through her bath talks with Kagome just what Kikyo had meant to Inuyasha and how she still did, which hurt Kagome to the fullest even though Sango knew she would never say so out loud.  
After hearing the other girl’s question Kikyo released the amusement from her face and stared at the others like a stone “You should go after him.” She said as two of her soul demons drew near her and raised her into the air like a feather.

Inuyasha wanted to run away, he wanted to claw his hair out for his own stupidity. Kikyo was taunting him he knew it and he wasn’t sure how to feel and on top of that it had been almost 2 weeks since he last saw Kagome for all he knew she could be dead and what had he done?

He had given up on her for a chance to see his former love. Sango and the others had every right to be as mad as they were and if it was in his nature to just let Sango beat him he would. It is what he deserved after all. “DAMMIT!!” He screamed and threw his fist into the nearest tree. As soon as his breathing evened out he regretted it because now it was red and swollen and hurt like hell, but it would heal soon enough he thought. Some part of him wished it wouldn’t so that way he could feel some of the pain that he should.

Sango and the others hadn’t caught up to him yet, so he decided to wash his face in the river and wait for them. He dropped Tessaiga on the ground beside him and leaned over the bank of the river, the sun was fully risen by now, so the water was warm. He couldn’t get Kikyo’s smell out of his nose because he was covered in it from head to toe, the smell of rot and death. “I can’t smell anything else besides her.” As soon as he splashed the water on his face the smell started to fade, it was still there but it wasn’t as strong as before. So as soon as it had faded enough not to hinder any other scents he may smell he decided to stand and stretch. “I wonder why those idiots haven’t found me yet. Miroku must still be trying to calm Sango down.”

As soon as he turned toward the direction he was going before Kikyo distracted him the wind kicked up and blew right in Inuyasha’s face, at first, he just let the cool wind dry his face before he took a deep breath and started running in the direction of the east as fast as his half-demon legs could take him.

Sango and Miroku had stayed behind after Kikyo’s warning for Sango to try and calm herself because even though she hated to admit it things wouldn’t be any better if she treated Inuyasha harshly. Shippo sat ready on top of the fully transformed Neko demon that Sango has had since she was a kitten. They had decided to go find Inuyasha when they bumped into none other than his own brother. 

He had been nothing but smug to them of course but he had told them he smelt Inuyasha’s scent in the direction of where he had just come. So, they jumped on to their companion and went to search for him. Only to find his sword abandoned by the river and him nowhere in sight.

Inuyasha felt like his legs would give out on him. He had run such a long distance in such a hurry he couldn’t believe he was even still standing even his body had its limits, but he had to be sure that he wasn’t wrong about this. He knew he had smelt it and the only thought in his head was to get there. As he leapt over rocks and up the hills he could smell the scent getting stronger which just pushed him further to his goal. 

The ground evened out and he realized he was now on top of the eastern mountains. “Damn, smells like wolf.” His nose stung in the worse way, but he couldn’t let it distract him he knew he had smelt her scent. The smell of earth and cherry blossoms, it had to be. He came to a line of bushes and decided to look at the situation before just rushing in because he had forgotten his sword at the river like an idiot. He stepped closer to the bushes when he heard someone arguing. From his hearing he could tell it was two people a male and a female, but the female sounded weak and her voice was hoarse.

He leaned closer to hear what was being said when he heard “Inuyasha is just a friend even though I defended him doesn’t mean that I love him. It doesn’t matter even if I did, he loves Kikyo it will always be Kikyo!” He knew who it was now, and his heart leapt in his chest and before he could stop himself he jumped from behind the bush and searched with all his might to find where she was. His eyes scanned the land in front of him before he saw a tuft of fur behind a large tree. There was no one else around and the scent and voices seemed to come from there, so he gripped his claws in and prepared for what he would find.

He knew Kagome would be happy to see him and he knew she would be glad he was here to save her if he could just get to her. From the scent she was with only one wolf. Even without his sword he could surely take one down easily with his claws if he had to but before he could finish his thoughts Kagome came into view and Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks.

He could hear his heart beating loudly in his chest. How could she be standing there draping herself on that disgusting wolf the way she was? He stood still as stone just south from the couple standing before him and he was finding he couldn’t fight his confusion of this situation. Kagome was hugging the demon who had kidnapped her, like he was her lover.


	21. Taken

Koga couldn’t help but hold the girl in his arms. All sense was gone by this point. He had caused this girl pain because of his hurt pride as a pack leader. He had laid so much blame on her shoulders and to his amazement she had took it and still held her head high against him. Now she had finally let all her pain out and he was the one who was ready to shoulder it for her. He felt her tears falling on his exposed chest and it hurt to admit they burned him. Each small pool of water felt like a dagger to his heart. As he was finally coming to realize why he cared to wonder why her feelings meant so much to him she lifted her head to lock eyes with him.

Blue eyes were staring into her dark brown and it sent shivers up her spine. Why was she allowing him to hold her? Why was he looking at her like that? The look he was giving her felt like it was burning away every smart remark her brain was screaming for her to yell at him. Her body was shaking but it wasn’t because of the weakness she felt earlier if anything her body was more stable now than she had ever felt it. Before she could even move to stop him Koga had his clawed fingers cupping her face and although her mind was screaming to stop him her body just wasn’t listening to her.

Did she want him to kiss her? How could she? He had caused her to lose her friends, beat her, and caused her nothing but pain but through it all she understood why. He had been nothing but nice to her since and even though her mind questioned it she felt that maybe she already knew the answer. As her mind was reeling Koga only grew closer. Moving slow like the moment would disappear if he moved to fast. Kagome steadied herself for what she assumed would come next when Koga stopped and before she knew it he had moved her behind him in one quick motion that made her already fluttered stomach flip even more.

“Stay behind me!” Her ears registered the words but she was too stunned to say anything as she looked in Koga’s face she noticed his beautiful blue eyes were gone and blood red had taken its place. She could feel the rumble of his growls through his bare back as he held her hard against him. The confusion she felt was gone to anger when she followed the trail of his sight to what he was so on alert about.

A couple feet from them was Inuyasha. Kagome couldn’t believe it was him. Her heart started to pound in her eyes for the time she was gone she had convinced herself he had forgotten about her. He was here; he hadn’t given up on her like she had thought. Before she knew it she threw herself away from Koga and was running as fast as she could from him towards the half-demon in front of them. Fighting her weak legs the whole time.

She could hear Koga screaming something from behind her but she was too busy trying to make it to Inuyasha to even care what he was saying. All she could see was him. He stood with is fist to his side and his head down and the gentle breeze on top of the mountain was blowing his hair across his face. Before she could even think she had her arms around him, hugging him with all the strength she had left in her body.

“Inuyasha, you came!!” She couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. Inuyasha was still as stone and though Kagome found it weird she didn’t question it. She pressed herself harder against him and started to cry. “Kagome, please get back behind me!” Koga was screaming behind her.

“No! Why?” Like she would leave Inuyasha now he had finally found her. He had really come for her. Before she knew it she was ripped from Inuyasha and pulled backwards. “What are you doing?” Her anger was boiling over Koga had no right to keep her from the one person who had come to take her back to what he had taken her from.

“Could ask you the same question, what do you think you’re doing hugging this demon?” Koga wouldn’t look at her and Kagome could see every muscle in his body tense up with his words.  
“He isn’t a demon you jerk. His name is Inuyasha and he is my friend!” She didn’t care at this point about the pissing contest that Koga seemed to be putting on before he could say a word against it she was in between the two with her hands on her hips protecting Inuyasha from anything Koga might try to do to him.

The words hit Koga’s ears and he realized something wasn’t adding up like it should. He released his anger for the moment and looked at Kagome with confusion on his face. “Inuyasha, you mean the half-demon you told me about?” He asked.

Kagome pulled her arms from her hips to cross her chest and looked at Koga in amusement as she answered “Yea, half-demon, so what?” 

The amusement on her face left as she heard Koga answer “Kagome that doesn’t smell like a half anything. The flea bag behind you is giving off a full demon smell.”

Kagome could feel nothing but cold chills running down her spine as Inuyasha came up behind her and dug his claws in either side of her upper arms. He leaned into her ear and let his hot breath slither over it making her shiver. Kagome’s face fell as she heard his words. Words that coming from Inuyasha would be some annoying remark that would normally drive her insane but right now they did nothing but raise the hair on the back of her neck. “Miss me, wench?”

Kagome shakily turned her head to look at Inuyasha and was met with a pair of blood red eyes staring back at her and before she even had a chance to scream he had scooped her up and was running full speed down the side of the mountain leaving a stunned Koga in his wake.


	22. Demon Inuyasha

Koga could only see her. The fraction of a minute it took for her to be gone. She was stretching her hand out to him and he was cursing his arm for being too slow. The feel of their fingers just barely rubbing together had sent sparks through his body and had frozen him to a standstill. All he could do was watch her. Her black silk hair falling around her bruised face, the water welling in her eyes as she screamed out his name, and the way the wind rippled around her as the demon that held her took off away from him. 

His pride was more than broken. He couldn’t stop the rumble of growls releasing from his chest as the wolf inside him was refusing to comprehend he had once again lost something to the hands of someone else. Koga tried to calm himself as he raised his head and let out an ear shattering howl. He knew what he was doing was stupid. He knew the ones he was calling weren’t going to understand any of this in the less bit, but they were the only ones he could trust. He was their leader, their prince and he needed their help. Maybe the details wouldn’t need to be important to them. He knew it was too much to ask of them, but he couldn’t let her go just as he was starting to figure out why just the thought of her was causing his chest to ache.

He was young, but he wasn’t stupid to know that the human girl had worked her way into his heart since day one. Now the wolf inside of him was craving to be released even more. He couldn’t say he blamed it. It was against a wolf’s instincts to lose and when they felt they have something to protect they protect it with their lives. Koga let the wolf take hold for now and stood clutching his fist by his side as his chest rumbled from the hard breaths he was letting out. He raised his head in the direction Kagome was taken and growled out through his fangs “No one touches what is mine and gets away with it!”

The forest around them was swirling in all directions making it hard for Kagome to pin point exactly which way they were going. Her body was screaming at the pain the trip was causing her. At this point she knew all the progress she had made at standing for a time by force was now a thing of the past because her legs were numb all the way down to her toes. Inuyasha wasn’t releasing his grip on her waist anytime soon and the power behind it was only causing her wounds to reopen given the fact she hadn’t been able to treat them before he showed up.

Her mind was trying to find a way to stop this but the only real power she had over Inuyasha was the beads and with his speed and how he was holding her that wasn’t a very safe option unless she wanted to fall to her possible death. All she could do was ride this out as much as she hated the fact. She could feel the tears welling again in her eyes making her cry even more as each tear sled into a wound and caused pain little by little. Before she could stop herself, she screamed “Please Inuyasha you’re hurting me!”

Before she knew it Inuyasha stopped. He hauled her off his shoulder and was holding her by the neck against a tree in the blink of an eye. Kagome could hardly breath from the pressure he was placing on her air way. Inuyasha moved himself to eye level with her and stared into her eyes and Kagome could only think how lucky she was that looks really couldn’t kill someone after all because if they could she would surely be dead. 

The eyes of her friend were gone and replaced with the eyes of someone with no feeling in them what so ever. They were cold as they stared into the core of Kagome like she was a bug he had found on the bottom of his foot. Just as she was about to lose consciousness Inuyasha took his hand and roughly grabbed a hold of the hair on top of her head and tilted it until her neck was completely exposed to him. He moved slowly towards her and as he did Kagome could only think this is how she will die. Would this Inuyasha seriously be so different that he would kill her in such a savage way? All she could do was pled with him, but her voice sounded so small and ragged even she thought it came from someone else. “Inuyasha please, please don’t”

Inuyasha didn’t stop his movement towards Kagome’s neck even as she begged. “Hurt you?” He said as he took a sniff of the scent on Kagome. Kagome couldn’t help but be surprised, did he smell her? This was far from what she thought he had in mind. She found her voice after a second to answer him “Yes please don’t hurt me.”

Inuyasha let out an evil chuckle that left goose bumps on her skin. “You are so selfish.” The smile left his face as he pulled Kagome’s head away from the tree trunk just to smash it back in place a moment later. “You beg for me not to hurt you, but you fail to see how you have hurt him.”

Kagome was seeing stars swirl around her from the force he had used to hit her head. As she was starting to regain her balance Inuyasha had once again grabbed her by the neck and pulled her back up the tree. “Stupid bitch! You smell like that filthy wolf. He was worried you were dead but no instead he finds you snuggled to a piece of trash. How long did it take you to give in? Did you forget who you belong to?”

Kagome couldn’t understand what he was screaming at her about, but she knew she was at a disadvantage here. He was more powerful than her, by a lot, and the pressure he had on her neck was keeping her mouth well shut. She was trying with all her might to use her powers to burn him, but she was too weak to make it work. She was listening to him yell at her up to where he asked her who she belonged to and although she knew it was against her best interest to say it she weakly said, “I belong to nobody.”

For a split second Inuyasha was caught off guard. His face went slack and he stared at Kagome with disbelief. Before she had the chance to take advantage of his stupor he had regained his grip on her and the anger was back made evident by the chilling growl he let out. “You belong to me you wench! You hold part of the soul to the woman who belonged to me making you mine as well. I can’t see how he lets you forget such a thing. He has been too soft on you it seems his little half breed ways have made him soft.” Inuyasha moved his mouth to Kagome’s ear and she had just enough time to hear his threat before he forced her to lose all consciousness. “Well, seems I will just have to remind you whose bitch you really are.”


	23. Control

The pain pierced their ears and left their eardrums ringing from the aftermath of their prince's howl. The demon inside him had called to them from deep within and there was no way they could ignore it. Ginta looked to his brother running as fast as he could beside him and wondered where they were being led. The scent was changing the closer they got to it. His feet were being scrapped by the loose rock on the mountain side because of his forgotten wraps back at the den. 

Hakkaku could see nothing but the wolves in front of him. Their fur was standing on edge behind their necks. Had Koga found the enemy? Would this be the fight for revenge they had been preparing for? The howling was growing closer as they followed the scent of pure rage that was wafting to them from just ahead. "What could have caused this?" He heard Ginta growl out beside him. He didn't know. 

The aura his leader and friend was letting off was nothing he had ever felt before. It was dark and menacing. Full of hate and anger that he swore it was ripping him apart from the inside out. As they ran to the opening in the trees on the south side of the mountain, the packs hunting grounds, there he stood. Ginta rubbed his eyes as he looked at Koga's bare back. Every muscle was rippling with each husky breath he released and with what he thought was a trick of the damage the wind had done to his eyes while running he thought he could see actual steam coming off his skin. 

He had known Koga his whole life being closer than most families, theirs had spent a lot of time with each other. Koga's father had made Ginta's father his beta of the pack just as the brothers now played this role for their beloved friend. Koga's claws were tearing into the tree trunk he was standing by. The bark was slowly being chipped away as his grip grew stronger. The two brothers feared that making a move toward him would spell trouble they wouldn't be able to escape from given the current feel of the situation.

It was Hakkaku who found his voice first "Koga" he let out shakily. He watched as the wolf demon in front of him slowly turned his head and his hair fell to hide one side of his face the only answer he got back was a low growl. He had seen this before and remembered how his father had handled such a warning from Koga's father many years ago. With the information this memory gave him he slowly began to kneel as low as he could go to the ground and looked at the earth under his knees. It was best if he didn't look Koga in the eyes right now as to not provoke the beast that had taken him over. 

He was showing his prince the respect his wolf deserved. As himself he had never asked this of them but before they could find anything out they had to let him take control of them or otherwise there could be a deadly conflict to worry about with him and his brother the victims. Ginta took the hint from his brother as well as the other wolves and bowed before their leader to avoid the threat of a challenge being issued. They could feel the ground shift around them as Koga circled them smelling the scent they were giving off searching for any kind of hostile aura.

Once he was satisfied in finding nothing that showed they were trying to defy him he stood in front of them. Koga could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. These two were more to him than just mere pack members they were like his brothers growing up of course they had come running at the first sign of his distress, and as himself, he knew he could trust them, but the wolf within him was demanding a show of their respect before it would allow him to calm enough to explain what had happened, but even then. Koga hesitated. 

He had known them for so long he had never kept anything a secret from them and, yet he had kept Kagome. He had had a chance to tell them, but he didn't he had told them he was searching for the person who had slaughtered their pack members. He had lied to them, ok maybe just half lied, but it was still a lie of some kind. Koga hated to admit it, but he feared how they would react towards him for such a thing. His wolf was begging for him to let him take the lead. He knew without a doubt he could make them not question him and frankly this side of himself was starting to scare Koga a bit. 

The wolf had known how it felt about Kagome before he himself had. It had tried to tell him just what she meant but he had ignored it out of pride and anger. Her face as she was being swept away kept creeping into his mind. He had smelt the scent of the other demon and knew he was full of rage when he took her. He calmed his thoughts and told Ginta and Hakkaku the whole story.

He stood as he always did still and calm in the shadows of the trees. The one he was watching stood a few feet ahead of him pacing back and forth. The creatures’ breathing was ragged and heavy as he moved. He could see a limp female laying just inches from the figure. He could tell by the scent on the wind that she wasn't dead, but she was certainly injured. Inuyasha and his precious humans, he was amazed to see he had hurt one in such a way as he had. 

Before he could think any further on the subject the smell of something familiar but different hit his nose. The Inuyasha he knew didn't smell like this normally and he knew this from the memorizing stench his half-brother always let off from the countless times he had run into him. They had not seen each other since he had stolen their father's sword from him months ago. He had stolen not only the sword but Sesshomaru's arm as well in taking it. 

He had been in that forest healing for too long. He placed his hand on the other half of his father's fang as he watched Inuyasha kneel before the sleeping human girl. As the half-demon lifted his head and turned in his direction he was slightly taken aback by what he saw. He had markings lining his cheeks as he himself did and his blood red eyes where darting in every direction. Sesshomaru gripped his sword tighter waiting for his naïve brother to notice him but instead Inuyasha picked up the girl and darted off back into the trees away from him. 

Sesshomaru stepped into the small clearing and watched as his brother moved from tree to tree as if he was trying to fly as fast as he could. He released his grip from his sword "Interesting." He smelt humans from behind him but with them came the aura he was desperately searching for. "This Sesshomaru will have that fang."

Demon Inuyasha didn't know where the scent had come from, but his other self knew it spelt trouble. As much as he wanted to relieve himself from the hatred the scent sparked in him he had other business to worry about now. He had to find a place that provided shelter in these woods and from always being on the sidelines he didn't know exactly where to find one. 

He jumped to the next tree top and as he did Kagome let out a moan of pain, but she didn't wake up. He couldn't ignore the faint screaming in his head. That low life half-breed was begging for him to stop what he was doing. He refused. He had stayed locked away long enough while his other self took control and let them both be betrayed and used. Still he let humans have control over him.  
The thought made him sick and angry. That priestess wench had nearly killed them, but he still trusted this other human girl. Searching for the jewel with her like her friend when he could have just kidnapped her and searched for the jewel for himself. The anger was overtaking him the more he thought about it. The scent around him changed to tell him rain was coming soon and as he looked down to see if he could find any shelter in the trees he noticed a small opening to a cave. 

He tightened his grip on the girl and found he couldn't wipe the devilish smile from his face. His other half was begging him now, knowing what was to come and all demon Inuyasha could do was jump down to the cave opening and say "This should work nicely. Now to teach this wench a lesson." He disappeared into the cave leaving the rain to fall silently in the background washing away all scent and sign of them to anyone who might be following.


	24. Deadly Converstaions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter and it does contain a small smut, so if you don't want to read that I suggest you skip over it.

Demon Inuyasha laid the passed-out girl on the damp ground of the cave he had stumbled upon. It was small but the trees outside hid the entrance well but building a fire would surely give their location away if someone came to close. He took off the top of his fire rat robe and felt to his surprise that it may be damp, but the cave was well insulated. He looked down on Kagome and bent over her.

Demon Inuyasha couldn’t get it; he couldn’t see what was so interesting about this human. He had wanted Kikyo as much as his half demon and human side did but that was because she was special. Even though she wanted the soft-hearted side of him to release his demon side altogether. She was beautiful, and her power was unmatched by any priestess he had ever come across.  
Her life kept her locked away from all the human things that could tarnish her and as much as he hated to admit it he like his other half had fallen for her without another thought. He took one of his sharp claws and moved the hair out of Kagome’s face and looked at the scars and bruises she had come to get. Putting two and two together wasn’t hard for him she had been abused by someone more than likely the wolf demon he had found her with. “Shows how weak she really is.” He said to no one, but the other half locked away inside his mind. 

He had been silent since finding the cave. Demon Inuyasha found it annoying. The sap had sulked and begged up until now, what has him so quiet at this point. Before he could over think it, he started grazing his claws from the top of Kagome’s collar bone and headed south. He watched as the blood started welling out of the new wounds. He wasn’t pushing hard but with his demon claws he knew if he wanted to, he could easily take off her whole shoulder and he imagined how long it would take her to die from such a thing. 

When he started to put more pressure into his movement he was stopped by a booming voice. ‘STOP!!’ He could do nothing but cover his head with his hands and bare the pain. “Now you speak up. You really don’t get it do you? This bitch needs to learn who she belongs to and obviously since you can’t do it, then I will have to do it for you. She carries the soul of Kikyo and that alone makes her ours. Which I will admit sickens me, but it is the way of things. Now shut your screaming and watch how it’s done you weakling.” Demon Inuyasha scolded his intruder as he got up and walked outside to find rope and something to keep the wench quiet. 

He couldn’t have her alerting anyone to where they were when she woke up. Also, it would be a plus if she couldn’t use the cursed beads around his neck. He cussed his other half out for letting himself be caught in such a trap by a lowly nothing of a girl. As he searched for some strong vines he could weave into a sturdy rope he was stopped by the sound of laughter directly behind him.  
He turned as quickly as he could and crouched to the ground with his claws extended ready to face whoever was there. He was brought out of his guarded form when the trespasser said, “Come now, even your demon half doesn’t want to hurt me Inuyasha, and I think you know this.” Demon Inuyasha couldn’t stop the crooked grin that swept over his features as he looked Kikyo up and down.

He felt his other half shake from the sight of her alone. The idiot really did love this dead woman. “How do you know that I don’t want to hurt you? Maybe I should make you eat your words.” He said a bit cockily. 

Kikyo laughed again and it sent Inuyasha into a frenzy of rage and lust. “I know because I used to love you. I know all your plans and ways of doing things and it helps me to hate you now. You can’t do anything without me knowing.” She slowly started making her way towards him. Inuyasha watched her every move like a predator. 

He saw the way her hair shifted with every agonizing step she took. He noticed the way the shadows of the trees darkened her skin but when she moved into the bits of sunlight it looked as white as ash. Her clothes clung to her every curve when her movements changed with the motion of her walking. He couldn’t help but be stricken by her form. He was pulled into a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time but of course his weaker self had stopped him from acting on it.

He crossed his arms in front of him and remained still as Kikyo finally made her way to him. He could tell by the closeness of her and the way she pushed herself into him that she thought she was playing the same stupid game she played with the stupid pup. His pride welled at the thought of finally showing her who was the dominate one here.

Kikyo leaned further into his chest using the one feature of her body that Inuyasha couldn’t resist. She watched as he looked down upon her and by looking him in the eye he had already given away his hand. She could see his very thoughts. She watched as he spotted Kagome with the other demon, she saw as his other half took him over and took her to the forest, and she knew he was planning to hurt the girl. “Poor pitiful Inuyasha. She has turned you into this hasn’t she?” She said with a harmony in her voice. Demon Inuyasha let a flash of shock hit him before he caught himself and grabbed Kikyo by the back of the head.

He was pissed. “What the fuck do you know about it, you dead bitch?” He snarled at the woman he was holding hard against him.

“I told you I know everything you do. This is no different. I only ask you, do you think he will really let you harm the girl.” 

“I don’t care if he likes it or not. For years I was locked away while he ran us and our name into the ground. I sat on the sidelines while he was torn apart by those humans. He should have slashed all their throats but no, what does he do? He cried to his mother about his pain. I watched him love her and hate our father for what he did to her. Our father was a legend among demons, he should have wanted to be just like him, but instead he followed that human bitches’ every word. He should have killed her and that nothing brother of his and took his rightful place at our father’s side. Then just as he was starting to show potential he ran into you. The idiot fell in love. Do you know how sickening that is, but I could see the intrigue you had power and that is something we both craved.” He gripped her hair tighter and heard Kikyo release a moan of pain. 

He felt his southern region vibrate from hearing the pain she was in. Even through the pain Kikyo managed to still speak. “He didn’t love me; he loved the thought of what I could give him just as I do now. I love that you have Kagome and though you may think me an enemy, I have come to help you.” Inuyasha searched her face for any signs of her lying.

“Now why, do tell, would you do that?” 

Kikyo smiled. “Because my dear Inuyasha, I want to be whole again. I want to kill her and take my soul back, but I cannot do it myself. I need help and I was intending to use Naraku, but since you have the girl then you will do. She has the last piece of me, and once she is dead, it will be released, and I will be free to live her lifeline myself. Will you help me?” Kikyo moved towards Inuyasha as much as she could without pulling her hair out.

“What will you do for me?” Inuyasha had to admit this was a side of Kikyo he hadn’t seen before and his other half was oddly quiet through all of this. Had she done something to block him from hearing this conversation?

“I will make you whole as well. I will make it, so you are pure demon and I will aide you as much as I can in killing Kagome. I know she is unconscious currently in the cave. I can bind her to the inside and I can pull up a barrier to hide the cave from view. I know the wolf will come for you as soon as he can if he is not already. I will try to slow him down as much as I can.” She was cut short as Inuyasha covered her mouth with his hand.

“How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won’t just run as soon as you get your way and leave me behind?” Inuyasha knew this would make what he had planned so much easier. He hadn’t meant to kill the human after but if he could free himself of the idiot, then it would be in his favor.

He released Kikyo from his grasp. “I will make a blood pact to you.” This was not method a priestess took lightly. To exchange your blood with anyone meant losing a large amount of power in the process. “I will perform the ritual of the binding and barrier before the pact though because after, I will be too weak to do much until my body revives itself. I will call on the oni to protect you before I go into hiding. The rest will be up to you.” Even the demon part of him couldn’t hold himself back.

He grabbed a handful of Kikyo’s hair and snatched her face to his before crashing his lips over hers. This Kikyo was made for him. The other matched the soft-hearted nature of his other half but this Kikyo was a perfect match to his bolder side. She wanted power as much as he and as much as he tried to resist it his instincts took over. He wanted to claim this corpse of a woman. He wanted to feel their souls being completed by marking her. 

He was lost in his animal side as he tossed her back into the nearest tree. He felt Kikyo’s lips part and took advantage of the moment to let his tongue dive deep into her mouth. She tasted of rotted earth but even that didn’t slow him down. She met his need by battling for dominance with her own tongue. Inuyasha then used his hand to turn her head away from him as he started to drag his mouth down her neck and collar bone. He heard her let out a moan of pleasure. The sound hit his sensitive ears and made him rock hard in the process. He used the claw of his other hand to rip open the front of her priestess garb. He pulled back to see the fabric fall open and reveal the clay made breast of the woman in front of him. He waited for his other half to protest but again he was no longer available for comment it seemed. 

Kikyo could feel every movement like a pin prick through her skin. She had never felt anything like it her body was buzzing with it. As much as feeling it was wonderful, even she knew her dead body could only do so much. Again, she found herself cursing Kagome for having the final piece of her. She wanted to feel alive, she wanted to feel him, but even as he kneaded and licked her exposed breast it was unsatisfying. Before she could stop herself. she grabbed Inuyasha’s head and lifted him to her eye level. “This has to wait. Kagome will wake up soon and will be gone if we do not leave soon.”

As unhappy as those words made him he knew she was right, so he pushed himself away from her and turned around to force away his problem while she adjusted herself. Then they walked quietly back to the cave where Kagome lay.

Miroku and Sango had been riding on Kilala for what felt like forever. Shippo was complaining about being hungry and screaming curses at stupid Inuyasha for running away and making them find him. After the confrontation in the woods they had finally cooled off enough to find Inuyasha. As they came to the lake where Kilala sniffed his scent at last, they found no sign of Inuyasha besides his sword. It was discarded on the forest floor like it meant nothing. Many things were running through Sango’s mind of why Inuyasha would take off. Maybe he was taken by Naraku?

She found herself smiling at this thought like he would really let himself be caught. Then the thought clicked in her mind and she felt her heart race maybe Inuyasha had found Kagome. That would explain the reason as to why he had forgotten his sword so suddenly. Before she could shake herself out of her thoughts she felt a shiver run through Kilala and saw the fur in the tuff of her neck stand on end. Miroku leaned forward and whispered. “I think we are being followed.”

Sesshomaru had been flying on his cloud at full speed to catch up to the presence of his father’s fang. He could sense it now just in front of him by a few feet. He let the poison leak into his claws on the only hand he had left. He would fight for what belonged to him. Even though killing humans was not his favorite thing he would do what he had to. 

He had everything planned out as the humans and their demon companions came to view. Everything but how to obtain the sword after he had finally taken it from them. He remembered the fight with his half-brother in his father’s grave site. He couldn’t touch the sword with his own hands. The loss of his arm had been a hit to his pride but this trick of his father’s was an even bigger one.  
His mind went through all his options one by one. He could kill them and use their hands as a carrier but that would stain him in their blood and the thought alone made him sick. Humans were nothing beings and to be touched by their blood was a disgraceful thing indeed. As he was trying to think of a method that would work he remembered the young girl that had recently started traveling with him. 

He still hadn’t figured out exactly why he had not just dropped her off in the nearest village and left when she wasn’t looking. He wouldn’t have to take care of her anymore, even though he had found her to be very low maintenance overall. Jaken had been delegated to care for any need she couldn’t provide herself. He knew his loyal servant had despised being handed such a job. but the little joy he had in this life was torturing the little toad. 

The neko was finally in plain view of him as he lashed out at it with his poisonous whip. Unfortunately, he missed, the demon cat had moved to avoid his strike and he could feel the pain of his pride again. No one could escape his whip when he was at his full strength. As he was getting ready to release another slash the demon dove towards the ground. “Damn.”

He was seething with anger. He knew in the air he was at the better advantage, but he was still healing from his injuries so a fight on the ground was not in his favor. His father’s words hit him like a force. “If you want to be victorious son you must learn to be calm. Anger can only work against you in a fight.” Sesshomaru calmed himself as he dove to the ground below him and readied himself for the fight to come.

Sango and Miroku watched with baited breath as Inuyasha’s brother bolted to the ground in front of them. His kimono was fight ready as it always was with his armor on the front and shoulders. His white hair swept to the side as the breeze caught it and he stood before them flexing the claws on his one arm. “Give me the sword.” Sesshomaru growled through his teeth.

Sango undid the tie on her outer clothing revealing her slayer outfit already below. She moved her hand to touch Hiraikotsu on her back ready for any attack that might come. Miroku beside her had his staff placed squarely in front of him. Shippo sat on top of an irate Kilala who was bearing her teeth at the enemy in front of them.

Hearing Sesshomaru’s words forced Shippo to grip the sword tighter and he could do nothing but answer back shakily “This is Inuyasha’s sword. You can’t even touch it.” He had heard the story from Kagome a few times when he couldn’t sleep on their journey. It was a funny story that would make him fall asleep without another thought. 

Sesshomaru grinned at the little demon and found amusement in him thinking he could match him. “Inuyasha is no longer worthy of such a thing.” He watched as confusion broke on the faces of both demon and human alike. His smile grew wider realizing that they didn’t know what had happened to their friend. “This Sesshomaru can see you know not what I speak of. Annoying humans.”  
Sango chanced a question to the great demon lord of the west. “I assume you will tell us, right?” Miroku looked at her with shock written all over his face. He couldn’t believe she had spoken so casually to a being like the one they were facing. Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side and Miroku couldn’t tell by the expression on his face if Sango had angered him or not because he was keeping all emotion off it. 

Before he could contemplate it further Sesshomaru opened his mouth to speak. “The sorry excuse for a half demon brother of mine has no right to the sword any longer because he no longer is a half demon. He has lost his human side to his demon side and as my father told me many years ago if such a thing was to happen this Sesshomaru was to set it right.”   
This time Miroku was more confused than he had ever been in his life. Sango spoke up again “What does that mean?” As Miroku saw the demon lord’s face become annoyed the answer clicked in his head.

“So Inuyasha has turned full demon and you plan to use his own sword to kill him?” The thought was disturbing alone. He heard Sango gasp beside him and move her free hand to cover her mouth. Sesshomaru used their human emotions against them as he flinted past them to the little fox demon holding the sword. 

He was using more strength than he wanted to, but this was the only way things could be done he told himself as he used his good hand to swipe the demon off the cat’s back and knock them both to the ground and the sword up in the air. Before Sango and Miroku could move the sword was caught in Sesshomaru’s grip.

Sesshomaru smiled at his own victory and with so little power used. He turned back to the humans and saw the shock on their faces. Before he could celebrate too much he started to feel a searing pain course through his palm. The curse his father put on the sword was starting to take effect. The poison was stronger than his own and before he could stop himself his hand let the sword go.  
All he could think was how could the other demon hold a sword he couldn’t touch. Once again, the anger was evident on his features. Of course, the sword had been wrapped in a cloth which was now nowhere in sight. All Sesshomaru could do was stare at his father’s fang and he could feel the familiar pain of hate in the pit of his stomach. His father was known as the greatest demon of his time.

He was praised for his power and his ruling, but little did they know the true downfall of such a great demon lord. A pitiful human had been his only demise. His mother had forgiven him and Sesshomaru had later hated her for such a thing. As he looked at the sword the answer came to him, before he could consider anything else he knew what he had to do. He would have another chance to take the fang but now was not the time and a fight would only weaken him further. He would have to retreat for now.

Defeat was not something he took lightly, and he hated it even further that he was about to help humans. He turned to leave but before he did he decided to tell them his new revelation. “Your friend is in the woods, to the south west and he has that human priestess with him.” He grew quiet as he started to walk slowly away before one of the humans spoke to him.

“You mean Kikyo and Inuyasha are together?” 

Sesshomaru turned his head back “No the dead one was not around. This Sesshomaru believes she will be as such soon though, if you don’t get our father’s fang to him.” Before they could ask anything else of him he summoned his cloud and took off at full speed.

Miroku saw nothing as Sango gripped his hand tightly in hers and pulled him on top of Kilala with her. Above the wind he could hear her whisper out her threat. “If he hurts Kagome, I will kill him myself.”


	25. Fear and Blood

Koga couldn’t hold back from smacking Ginta and Hakkaku over their heads. He had told them the story of the past two weeks and he knew they felt betrayed by their scents, but he also sensed they were fighting their own confusion. Trying to explain anything to them always ended in frustration for him. He watched as they stared at him with fogged over expressions. “Get it together.” He said while suppressing the urge to threaten them with a growl.

“I am sorry Koga, but I don’t understand. You’re telln’ us you weren’t lookin’ for the demon that killed the pack.” Ginta said trying to get a lock on what the situation was.

“Yea and that instead you were with a human woman, which you have fallin’ in love with.” Hakkaku finished his brother’s train of thought.

Koga had to grip his claws in his hands to control himself “No you idiots. I kidnapped the human girl to get information, and find what she knew about our tribe being killed, but that she wasn’t a part of it, and just as she was opening up to finally help me, a demon stole her from me and now we have to get her back.” Ginta and Hakkaku shook their heads in understanding and turned to face each other before the look of confusion took them under again 

“So, you aren’t in love with her?” Hakkaku asked for the both of them. Koga couldn’t hold in his impatience any longer, he grabbed Ginta and Hakkaku by the collar of their furs and pulled them close to him. The look of shock moved on their faces as they saw the blood red color seep into their friend and leader’s eyes.

“That’s not the issue and we are wasting time.” He shoved them hard away “We have to save Kagome. I will not lose anyone else. I must protect her. I will do this alone if you will not help me.”   
Ginta rushed to his feet and stood in a saluted form followed by his brother repeating his actions. “Koga, you know we will help you.” Ginta said trying to hide the fear in his voice.  
“Yea, we just didn’t understand why you cared so much.” Hakkaku finished.

Koga’s beast was begging for control. He wanted to show these two just what could happen when you question your leader in the way they were, but Koga was trying to keep him in control. He knew with these two you got further with a sweeter tone. They had been by his side as long as he could remember and though they annoyed the hell out of him, he knew they would follow him to their own deaths, if they had to. 

He could feel his beast scoff at such an absurd thought of a sweet leader. He believed you didn’t get respect without demanding it. Koga rolled his eyes and continued the conversation before him. “So, will you help me old friends?” Ginta and Hakkaku couldn’t believe their ears he had been nice to them and called them his friends. 

After Koga had risen to his position he hadn’t been as close to the brothers as he used to. They still joked around and hung out from time to time but being a prince of a tribe had certainly matured Koga in ways they hadn’t yet come to match up to, but even younger they were behind all the rest in their classes. Koga had always acted like he didn’t notice, and even if he had he didn’t seem to care. The pride they were both feeling lit a fire in both their hearts as they agreed to help Koga no matter what the cost.

“Good let’s go to the pack. We have to set up temporary leaders and pick up some weapons.” He heard Ginta chuckle from behind him. “What’s so funny?” He asked a bit confused. 

“I can just imagine how the pack is going to like this.” Ginta said. Koga couldn’t stop the roar of laughter that escaped him. The pack was already angry with him over not already having killed their pack member’s killer. He could imagine that elder female wolf demon would really have words to say to him now. He would just have to deal with that when he faced it. For now, he was on a mission and no one was going to stop him. He allowed his shards to boost his legs forward as fast as they could to the pack’s hidden den.

As he ran he could hear his number two and three far behind him yelling for him to slow down. He had finally made it to the entrance of the den, when he decided to wipe himself off in the river that was connected to the waterfall that hid the opening. Going into the den with the scent of Kagome all over him wouldn’t help matters much in his case. He pulled the water to his face and stared at the tiny reflection he saw in his palm. He looked tired and as soon as he noticed that he realized he felt it as well.

He used the cool water to help wake him up a bit before finally using the water to scrub the scent off his arms and chest. Which he realized he still had not replaced his armor plate and top fur. He couldn’t believe he had gotten so caught up with Kagome, that he had left it hanging by the springs. He knew the pack would question why he was so exposed, but he shook his head and said he would figure it out later.

As he was going over the steps he needed to take next, Ginta and Hakkaku had finally caught up to him. They were both bending over their knees with their heads towards the ground huffing in as much breath as they could manage to get. In his rush Koga had forgotten also that they didn’t have any jewel shards, and he usually tried to keep at a pace they could keep up with when they hunted together, but he had been in such a hurry that he didn’t think about it. 

They didn’t seem to be mad as they finally both caught their breath enough to speak. “What now, Koga?” They asked in unison. Koga dreaded what was about to happen, because the pack hadn’t taken it to great when he said he was leaving by himself, now to take his second and third in command with him as well, will not blow over as nicely. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face the challenge ahead, but he didn’t have time to second guess himself, he had to get to Kagome before it was too late.

Unwanted images of what that demon could be doing to his Kagome flashed before his thoughts, and as bad as they were, the one of him taking her as his was the one that spurred him forward to face the wrath he knew was about to come. “We hurry.” Was all he could answer as he jumped the rocks to enter the den behind the waterfall.

The pack was in the middle of cleaning meats for their dinners, when the three of them walked into the main part of the dens. The females all stopped their work and the men ran ahead towards their leader and his betas. All of them were asking the same question to him. “Have you returned victorious? Have our brothers been justified?” 

Koga couldn’t keep the shame from showing. He had come back empty handed and they wouldn’t be happy once they learned as such. Koga pushed past the crowd to sit on the rock he used to address the whole pack at once. Ginta and Hakkaku stood beside him trying to quiet the mass of wolf demons. Koga was getting a headache and before he could stop himself he let out a loud roar that told all of them to shut up or he would show them how. 

He hated treating his pack in such a manner. His father had ruled over them with an iron fist and Koga had tried to use the opposite of such forces in his time as their ruler. He looked over them and saw the hurt in each of their faces. Even the wolves had coward from him. The pups of the pack, were hiding behind their mother’s legs or backs, and the females where desperately trying to comfort them. The men were shocked and confused at such a move from their leader. It was too late to apologize now. So, he decided to ignore the subject altogether and start the work he needed to do.

“I have stopped here to pick up Ginta and Hakkaku. I have yet to find the enemy.” At these the voices rose again. This time they were all asking different questions. Koga found the rage was taking him over again. His eyes swept the crowd below him before they landed on the elder wolf demoness that had questioned him the last time he was here. He watched as she stared at him with a look of hate in her eyes and saw the smile of joy pass over her face as she sensed the anger towards him from her fellow members. 

Koga’s beast was telling him how this will all end, if he didn’t stop wasting time and take control of his pack. So, against his better judgment he relinquished control to him. The crowd was once again shocked into silence as Koga’s beast roared “Shut up!!!” After getting their attention, the whole den noticed the red in Koga’s eyes and realized they were no longer dealing with their soft-hearted leader. “Now as I was saying. I have come to pick up Ginta and Hakkaku. I have found someone who can help me find the demon, but they were taken by another enemy before I could find out. I will appoint new temporary leaders for while we are gone but I do not have time to explain further. Hopefully, I will not be gone long, then we will finally get the revenge you are seeking with the help of the person I have found.”

The pack was as silent as he had ever heard them before, but he knew none had the guts to question him in their positions. He let his gaze fall to the woman he had noticed earlier and made eye contact with her begging her to speak against him but all she could do was lower her head in defeat. “Now Ginta appoint the leaders and Hakkaku help me get the weapons we will need in case.” He knew as a wolf demon, it was instinct to fight with your claws, but they always carried a weapon of some sort for just in case. 

Ginta ran off to do as he was told while Koga and Hakkaku went to the weapons den. “Koga do you really think that was the way to do this?” He heard Hakkaku ask him. He hated to admit he was right but then again if he had done things his way, they would still be talking.

“It may not be how I wanted to do things, but it was what had to be done.” Hakkaku sighed at those words, he knew Koga was right, but that didn’t change the fact he didn’t like it one bit. He hoped they found this human girl soon because he feared what might happen to Koga if they didn’t. There was silence between them as they gathered sharper swords and readied themselves to leave as soon as Ginta was done with his task.

With everything done they needed to do, they set off to find Kagome. The three of them stopped by the springs to let Koga pick up his top furs and his armor. The brothers refused to speak to Koga from fear of setting him off again. They found the silence alone was deafening. Koga was dying to run faster but he knew he couldn’t lose his companions. 

Kagome’s scent was strong, and he was finding it easy to follow it, but the scent was sending shivers up his spine. She smelt of flowers, fear, and tears and Koga could only hope that didn’t mean what he was thinking. Surely the demon wouldn’t be that rash. Then again, Koga knew what anger could bring out in a demon. 

The beast inside him tried to shake the thought before it could cause any damage, but it was too late. His chest felt heavy like something was sitting on it. He had hurt Kagome so much already because of his own selfish anger. She didn’t deserve the things this other demon was doing to her. He hadn’t known she was already part of someone else’s life, this train of thought made him question if his Kagome was possibly already marked.

He had to admit she smelt pure but that could have just been the power he smelled. Then again, she didn’t smell of any other demon when he had taken her to begin with and the fact she hadn’t even kissed crossed his mind. His thoughts were leading him in a direction that wasn’t good, until Ginta’s cough brought him out of them. “What?” He asked through the haze of anger and confusion. 

He had almost forgotten he wasn’t alone. “I was just sayin’ these clouds don’t look good, do they?” Koga admitted he hadn’t paid attention to the weather and by keeping only his mind on Kagome’s scent, he hadn’t noticed that rain was coming. Realization instantly struck him. If it rained the scent would start fading and he needed to get as far as he could before that happened. Companions or not he had to do what he had to.

“I am going ahead.” He said before leaving a confused set of brothers behind him that stood still for a second before setting off to catch up to their leader.

Kikyo was finally done with her spells and already her power was little to nothing. She was starting to regret making the promise of a blood exchange with Inuyasha’s demon half. She was tired and ready to rest, but she was sure this Inuyasha wouldn’t care one way or another. With her advice he had gagged and bond Kagome’s hands, because although the barrier would keep her and the noise from reaching the outside, she could still use the beads against Inuyasha if she was able to speak the word of subjugation. 

Inuyasha watched as she gathered the items she used for the spell. After discarding it all she started towards him with a piece of cloth in her hands. He could see she was already tired and a feeling pulled at him. He pushed it to the back of his mind “So what now?” He had never done a blood exchange before, but he knew that most the time the ones that received the blood became strong but the one giving was made to be very weak.

He didn’t care what happened to her, all he could think was what power he would feel after the ritual was over. “I will have to do this the best I can, given that it is not the normal time for it, but it will work like it is supposed to.” Kikyo started to explain as she took the cloth wrapping off the ceremonial blade she carried on her.  
“So, what do I need to do?” Inuyasha asked. 

“I will need to bind our hands together with this cloth after we both have made the cuts. You will have to suppress the need to heal yourself until the ritual is over. You will feel my powers burn at first, but once the ritual gets started the power will adapt to you quickly.” Inuyasha didn’t want to admit the sound of pain wasn’t ideal, but the power was taking that thought from his mind altogether.

“So, will I gain powers like you?” He couldn’t fight the curiosity of this question. 

“No, you will not, but your strength will close to double.” Kikyo said with a smirk on her face as she ran the blade across her palm she watched as the blood spilled off her hand to the forest ground below. She then did the same with Inuyasha and forced his hand in hers as she quickly tied the sash around their entwined hands. It was more to hold him in place while she recited the incantation than anything, but she ultimately decided he didn’t need to know that. Inuyasha instantly fell to his knees, the power her blood held felt like it was ripping him apart. Before he could stop it, his vision went dark.

Kikyo started speaking when Inuyasha’s other hand gripped her arm. She looked down at him and saw the eyes of the other Inuyasha staring back at her. “Please Kikyo. Please don’t do this.” He begged her. The one part of the soul she had back, pulled at her at his pleas. For a short moment she second guessed herself, but then she bent to eye level with her Inuyasha and put her finger to his lips to silence him.

“Shh, my dearest. I do not make this pact with you, so please do not try to interfere.” She said before speaking her incantation louder trying to help Inuyasha’s demon half to take back control. As she spoke, she saw the purple swirl of her magic surround their palms, and Inuyasha’s eyes glazed over with that blood red color once more as she finished the spell. She went to untie their hands when Demon Inuyasha grabbed her by the collar and crashed his lips upon hers.

Moments later Inuyasha had found his composure again and released Kikyo before he did something he would regret doing at a time like this. With their hands finally untied, he shoved Kikyo away from him and headed towards the cave. “Thanks for the help, my pet.” Inuyasha said with an evil glint in his eyes to match the wicked smile on his face.

Kikyo felt low and very drained. The words from Inuyasha had struck a chord in her. He thought he had used her so easily, little did he know it was the complete opposite. She chuckled at the idiot and called for her soul demons to take her into hiding. If he wanted to play a game, she would show him how it was played. As soon as she recharged she would use the power that ran through his body now against him. As she was being lifted in the air she smirked toward the entrance of the cave “See you soon, my pet.” She laughed to herself for her victory. “Hell will be our next meeting place.”


	26. Rainfall

Inuyasha watched from the entrance of the cave until the dead priestess was out of sight, before turning his attention to his surroundings. The rain was starting to come down hard, which in his mind was a blessing to help wash away his and Kikyo’s scent. As he turned back to the inside of the cave he could feel the power running through him. His body hummed with it. It was almost too much to handle in a way, but he was addicted to the feeling all the same. 

As he was lost in his thoughts he heard the girl whimper in the corner where he had placed her. An evil smile rose to his face as he watched the recognition cross her features and saw her struggle against her bindings to sit up and push herself further to the cave wall behind her. The scent of her fear surrounded him and filled his nose. It was hypnotizing him. 

He could feel his other half trying to fight for control but with his new-found power he was able to force him back down easily. He looked at Kagome who was physically shaking. Her eyes opened wide, as he crept towards her. Her scent was heavy thanks to the barrier, and he was losing his control because of it. He didn’t want to kill the girl yet, even though now that was the end game plan.

As he got closer to her another scent that he had forgotten hit his nose. She still smelt like that wolf demon. He knew from their exchange in the forest that one side of her neck was clear of marks, but his instincts told him he needed to see the other before he could be satisfied. He walked faster to her and grabbed a handful of hair at the top of her head and yanked her head over to expose her neck to him. He first bent down to smell the scent there, and it smelt of wolf but as he looked she didn’t seem to have any other mark than a partially healed burn. That looked to be infecting. 

He pulled her head back to look at him. “Has that filth claimed you wench?” Kagome’s eyes showed the shock the gag was helping to hide. She thought for a moment before realizing what he was even talking about. Inuyasha watched as she did her best to move her stiff neck to shake her head no. “No, but I bet you wanted him to, didn’t you?” Kagome’s head shook again, answering his question with a no. He pushed her head hard into the rock surface behind her. “Don’t lie to me bitch!” He said through his teeth. 

He was beyond angry. He had seen her with the mangy wolf. He knew she had done something with him and he wasn’t going to let her think she could lie her way out of it. “I am going to show you what real torture is like Kagome.” Inuyasha said into Kagome’s ear. Even with the gag in her mouth she let out a gasp. Demon Inuyasha grinned wide as he heard her muffled cry.

Koga felt like he had been running forever when he was stopped by drops of rain, he didn’t have much time before the scent he had been following was no longer strong enough to smell anymore. From the direction of the clouds and how they kept getting darker as he ran, he knew the worse of the rain was ahead of him instead of behind like he had hoped. He felt the rage take him over and he sent his fist into the nearest tree. He could hear Ginta and Hakkaku just a bit behind him and they were complaining as usual. 

With the rain he knew the scent ahead was probably gone, so while he waited for slow and slower to catch up he tried to figure out if the scent he had now had trailed off to the side at all. To his surprise it seems the demon had stayed on the same path all the way through. He doubted he had exited the forest, because the rain probably forced him to take shelter. As Ginta and Hakkaku caught up to him they found him trying to think if there was anywhere he could have gone to hide. 

“What’s up Koga?” Ginta and Hakkaku asked him.

“With the rain he probably didn’t get out of the forest.” Koga said voicing his thoughts out loud, doubting that Ginta and his brother could add anything to answer his questions. Ginta looked at the clouds ahead of them and noticed the rain coming down hard and flashes of lightening lightened the dark sky. They had left before dinner, so his stomach was growling to remind him of this.  
“Don’t know, but doubt he made it that far before this came through, and with it gettin’ dark and cooler he probably found some kind’a shelter.” He said over the rumble of his stomach. Hakkaku’s stomach answered him back. He had forgotten how hungry he was while they were running, and he forgot to pack any food for the journey.

“Well wither he hid or not we should make camp and have dinner. I mean the smell of rain is pretty far off, so he is probably gonna be stuck for a while.” Koga looked back and forth between the two as they rubbed their stomachs from their hunger. With everything he had on his mind he hadn’t even thought to be hungry. 

He realized he hadn’t eaten since that morning. He hated to waste the time, but they would amount to nothing fighting on empty stomachs. “I guess Ginta and I will hunt. Hakkaku, you set up the fire.” He wanted to get this over as quickly as possible, so it was better if two of them were hunting at once, and with them already a good way from the mountains they didn’t have to worry about the birds of paradise getting them, but they did have to worry about any demons that lived here. 

Koga knew they could sense his jewel shards, if they got close enough. That would spell unwanted trouble for the three of them. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as him and Ginta set off to find dinner.

Demon Inuyasha had left a few shallow marks on Kagome before she passed out again. Only another sign to how weak she was. She couldn’t even handle a few cuts. Killing the girl should be an easy task in all, but he wasn’t done having fun with her yet. “No, I am just getting started.” He mumbled to himself. His other half had begged for him to stop but it seems the power he had obtained from Kikyo kept him under control, and took away the pain his complaining had been causing him. 

He felt like a full demon for once with no one else to fight against. He felt whole and once the screaming was silenced, he would be. He wandered through the forest searching for anything to eat. He knew he had time before the human woke up again. His strength wasn’t down but his stomach couldn’t stop growling regardless. As he was cursing his still human stomach, a small boar ran into his view. He felt his claws extend as he stalked the boar. 

As soon as he thought he could, he leapt on top of it. The boar screamed out from fear, and before Inuyasha could blink he had snapped its neck without even putting any power behind it. After he caught his breath he lifted the small boar on to his back and returned to the cave.

He made a small fire, because now that the sun was down, and the earth has been cooled by the rain, the inside of the cave had gotten cooler. As much as he wanted to torture the girl, her getting sick wasn’t in the plan. Somehow that would take all the fun out of it, he thought. He used the small knife he found in his pants to start to ready the boar for cooking. As he was engrossed in his work he heard mumbling coming from Kagome. 

He watched her move as much as she could, but given her bindings and her gag she couldn’t move much. He had never known of an unconscious person to dream but he guessed it could be possible. The blood from the cuts he had given her was starting to dry in streaks on her face just barely dripping into her hair. His other half was silently crying at Kagome’s figure, and what had been done to her. 

“OOGG----AAHH!!!” His ears perked up at Kagome’s scream. He found his insists had pecked. Before he could stop himself, he was by the girl’s side and started running his fingers across her head to move the locks that had mixed with the drying blood. He looked at her mutilated face and watched as her eyelids flitted back and forth quickly. He wondered what she was dreaming of.  
It looked more to him like a nightmare by the way her muscles were jumping. He found himself by her ear “No prince is coming to save you princess.” When he looked back to her face he could see tears starting to stream down her cheeks. 

“Here I thought my fun was over when you lost consciousness. Who knew you could be just as easily broken in your sleep.” Inuyasha couldn’t help but smile at the new revelation as he moved once more to finish cooking.

Miroku was starting to cramp from sitting for so long and the way Sango was making Kilala move in and out of tree tops didn’t help matters much. Shippo had since dug his little claws in his monk robes from fear of falling, and Miroku didn’t have the heart to tell him cloth wasn’t the only thing he was grabbing. His own fear was keeping him silent, until he heard Sango curse under her breath. “What is wrong Sango?” She pulled herself back towards him and tried to speak over the wind. 

“Kilala is getting tired and I think she lost Inuyasha’s scent because of the incoming rain.” As she said this the rain started to slowly fall.

“Maybe we should land…” Miroku started before Sango cut him off. 

“If we give up, he could kill Kagome!” Miroku could hear the fear in her voice. He put his cursed hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting squeeze.

“I know, but my dear Sango but you must also think of Kilala. She is tired from being in this form all day, and we are all hungry. If this rain comes down any harder, you could get sick and that wouldn’t help us find Kagome at all.” Sango couldn’t admit she hated how right he was.

Against all her instincts she said “Kilala, land.” She felt Miroku’s hand grip her tighter, silently telling her she had made the right choice, and she prayed to Kami he was right.

After they landed they found a canopy of trees that was keeping the rain from reaching the ground. As Sango sat up camp, Miroku and Shippo ran off to find a stream to get some dinner. Shippo slumped his shoulders as he kicked the nearest rock. He couldn’t believe all this had happened to poor Kagome. She had taken him with her when he had nowhere else to go. She had in ways become like his mother.

He said a silent prayer for her to be safe. He tried to stop his thoughts from traveling to the things that could be or already have happened to her. Miroku heard a huge sigh come from the little kitsune following behind him and knew this had to be hurting him. Kagome had brought them all together in some way shape or form. For him, he was a lonely traveler who was seeking revenge.  
At this memory, he looked at the wrap covering his wind tunnel. Naraku had cursed every generation of his family, since his grandfather, and the curse had passed down to him. He watched the curse take his own father from this world and knew what the future had in store for him. Kagome had given him the chance to finally get to the demon he had been searching for. She gave him a chance to change this future. 

Same went for Sango and Kilala. She had saved her from a tragic fate and gave her a chance to take back her future. Sango was alone, aside from her demon companion. By being with Kagome they had found a family, albeit a dysfunctional one, but a family all the same. He could feel the same pain that he was sure Sango and Shippo were feeling. 

“We will find her.” He didn’t mean for the statement to be for anyone but himself but Shippo jumped on his shoulder and hugged him around the neck.

“Thanks, Miroku.” He hadn’t meant for his words to be comforting to Shippo, but as he considered the pain evident in his small, round eyes, he wouldn’t have taken them back for the world. He lifted his hand and patted him on the head. Causing him to finally crack a small smile. The rain was starting to come down harder as they found the stream. Shippo jumped from Miroku’s shoulder to clear his mind from his worries by catching fish for them all.

Ginta and Koga had managed to capture a small doe for their dinner and as they walked back Koga found himself staring at the clouds above. From this angle, the rain seemed to fall around him, but he could feel the cold drops when they hit him. To be truthful he was thankful for the rain. The coldness of it was helping to calm the fire the beast was trying to reset inside him. He wandered why. How had this all happened and more importantly what did it mean?

He knew he could ask all these questions over and over, but he would never get an answer. As he was lost in his thoughts Ginta interrupted him. “Koga, ya know I believe in you, as a friend and leader, but I can’t help but wonder what is going on really.” Koga was thrown off step hearing his childhood friend and loyal member speak this way. Ginta and his brother were never ones to question anything let alone think.

Koga couldn’t stop the small smile that crossed his lips. “I don’t really know either to be honest.” Koga finally answered back after sighing. 

“Well I just mean shouldn’t our priority be finding our members killer, but instead you are chasing some human.” Koga couldn’t stop the growl that escaped his lips. He knew that Ginta didn’t mean to question him as a leader and he was in no way challenging him, but the way he was calling Kagome some human, in a strange way, made him angrier than he would like.

“She isn’t some human. Her name is Kagome, and she is in danger because of me. I know it makes no sense, but I just must get her back. Who knows what can happen to her. You didn’t see the fear in her eyes.” Koga was stopped dead in his tracks as Ginta ran in front of him and stuck his face in his. 

He was so close; their noses were nearly touching. Koga quickly pulled his head back and stammered “What the hell?”

Ginta stepped back and looked Koga up and down while running his finger over his chin. “You say it don’t mean nothin’, but I think you are lyin’ to yourself.” Shock moved over Koga’s features.  
“What the hell does that mean?” Ginta couldn’t help but doubling over in laughter. 

“A wolf demon in love with a human!” He said through his laughing fit. Koga felt like smacking him into the next life. 

“You don’t know what you are talking about.” He said trying to contain his cool. His anger was growing by the minute watching Ginta laugh at him. “She can help me find the bastard that killed our pack, that is the only reason I am doing this.” For some reason, even the beast inside was laughing at his answer.

Koga couldn’t take it anymore he huffed and walked eagerly past his laughing friend back towards camp. Ginta after almost losing all hope of breathing again, finally came to his senses to see his leader walking away. “Poor guy, doesn’t even understand his own feelings.” He said to himself before jumping up to catch up to Koga. He slapped him on the back and said, “If you say so, then that is how it is, I guess.” Koga rolled his eyes as they walked back quietly together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys this is the last edited chapter. I hope I did a better job at making the story flow as before and I fixed the paragraphs, I hadn't realized the spaces were absent given that i post without preview. I will add the new chapter by tonight. I have decided to cut this book in two. So there will be a sequel. This book is about Koga discovering his feelings and the next will be Kagome's. So please look forward to it. Also I look forward to any type of feedback you want to give.
> 
> I got a comment saying that this was story had went from cliche to me making Inuyasha as evil as Naraku. This is what I was going for. I want to make Inuyasha evil as to make it hard for Kagome to feel for him. I know it is stupid but that is how my story will go.


	27. Teaming Up

‘Kagome was standing the field, her head moved back and forth between the two figures. She knew one would lead her to death and the other salvation, but she couldn’t decide which was which. She stared in front of her as her body started bleeding. The pain was too much to bear. She crouched down and gripped her head in her hands trying to block out her own screams when a voice hit her ears. 

“No Prince will save you Princess.” The voice boomed all around her. Her first instinct was to run. She rose from her crouched position and ran straight for one of the figures. She ran into their arms and buried her face in their chest. They stood stiff and silent until an evil laughter drifted to her attention. 

She instantly felt she had chosen wrong, but it was already too late. She slowly looked up into Inuyasha’s face. His red eyes sparkled with a wicked gleam as he stared back at her. He grabbed her shoulders before she could even run away. “Kagome, please come back to me.” Another voice pleaded with her. 

She wished she could, she wished she could break this hold and run to them but Inuyasha already had her. He picked her up and dangled her from the mountain top. The height alone made her dizzy. She begged him not to drop her, but he didn’t listen. “Who knew you could be so easily broken.” Was Inuyasha’s only response to her as he released her hand from his grip. 

As she fell, she screamed for him to come. She prayed he would reach her but part of her knew the voice was right. The prince wasn’t coming to save her but that didn’t stop her from yelling his name as she fell. “KOOOOGGGGAAAAA!”’

Inuyasha sat bored after eating his fill of the boar. The girl showed no sign of wanting to wake up this time. He slowly bent his face close to hers to check if she was still breathing. Just as he did, a scent hit his nose that made him go crazy. He rushed to force himself as far away from her as he could. He hadn’t smelt this scent himself before, the way it made him feel was surely going to complicate things. It was slowly starting to fill the closed cave. 

He dug his claws into the rock floor beneath him and tried to calm the desires that were rising quickly in him. She smelt so good that it was making him dizzy. He was fighting with himself. His beast wanted her. Her blood was calling to him, and he was having a hard time denying himself it. He got up and ran from the cave. Inhaling the rain soaked air in his lungs quickly hoping for some relief. “Of course, she would go in heat, but did she have to do it now?” He said to only himself. He was starting to hate how much trouble this human was being. 

Koga and his two betas had just finished eating and for the first time since Kagome was taken he felt better. He hadn’t realized just how much energy he had given over to his wolf side. The doe was small, but it served its’ purpose in making all three demons ready for anything that would come their way. He sat by the fire that Hakakku had made and stared into the flames like they held the answers he was seeking.

He sat questioning himself. What was the matter with him? It was true he should be looking for the killer of his brothers, yet he was trying to protect a human. He had told the others he needed her to help find the first, but truth was she had already told him all he needed to know. He knew his wolf side wanted her but what for. He had liked other females before but there was never one that made him forget his duty like this human girl was. 

Just as he was trying to figure out what exactly it was he felt for her a scent hit his nose making him stand at alert. It wasn’t strong yet, but it was beginning to be that way. He figured it was just to the left of him but with all the rain fogging his senses he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. He sniffed getting nothing but emotions from his actions. It was a mix of sadness and pure rage, this alone told him it was a living thing. 

Ginta and Hakakku had just left for the stream to clean up not too long ago so he knew it couldn’t be them. He quickly tried to hide himself behind a tree but was instantly stopped when a huge board stuck in the bark of the tree just inches from him. He turned on his heel ready to fight when he was blinded by a huge puff of smoke. The smell filled his nose instantly rendering him from smelling anything but the foul stench of the smoke. It filled lungs in a matter of seconds.

His eyes teared from the burn. He tried to look around him, but everything was blurry and faded because of the tears and the fact he was trying not to pass out. Even though his two senses were useless he could hear someone approaching him quickly. He let his instincts take over and quickly dodged whatever it was that had tried to attack him. He prayed his next move would work in his favor as he tapped into the shards in his legs and started running around the area in a wide circle.

The smoke started to dissipate, and the wind helped to clear his senses once more. Once he stopped he heard coughing but from the different tones he could tell there was more than one person. He stood in his signature stance with his legs apart and his hands resting on his hips as he waited for the dust storm he had caused to die down. Once it did he knew who he was dealing with. The first one to be cleared was a man dressed in monk robes. He was crouched on the ground holding on to a woman covering their mouths with two cloths trying to stop the dust from getting in their lungs anymore. 

He knew exactly where he had seen them before. They were Kagome’s friends, the monk and the slayer, and they seemed to have a small kitsune with them who was asleep, likely got caught in the smoke by accident. He was too busy paying attention to the friends of the girl he was trying to find to notice the neko demon that was slowly stalking his way. Kilala moved forward quietly waiting for the right moment to pounce until two figures rushed in front of her making her jump back. 

Koga smirked at the cat demons’ failed attempt at a sneak attack as he looked at Ginta and Hakakku. They had taken their time, but he was glad they had showed up when they did. The dust had all cleared by now and he turned his gaze towards the two people who were now regaining their composure. “I knew that Inutrasha was nuts, but Kagome didn’t tell me that went for all her friends.” He said taking pride of the look of shock in the two’s faces the minute they heard Kagome’s name. 

“You took Kagome.” Sango shouted turning to free her Hiraikotsu from the tree trunk behind her. She readied it to throw once again as Miroku stepped in front of her effectively stopping her in her tracks. She was fuming. What was the monk thinking stopping her from hurting this demon? “Miroku, move.” She hissed through her teeth. If she wasn’t already mad enough, Koga let out a howl of laughter bringing her temper up a few more notches. 

“Yea, I took her.” Koga said wiping the tear from his eye that had formed in his fit of laughter. 

“Do you know where she is?” This time it was the monk who spoke. Koga watched the slayer behind him grit her teeth and part of him wanted to fight her just relieve both their stress but that would get him nowhere.

“Your crazy friend kidnapped her.” He screamed in their direction. 

“Are you talking about Inuyasha?” The monk seemed to be level headed at least Koga thought. He felt he could get the answers he was searching for from him if he played his cards right. 

“Yea the demon went nuts and carried her off, have you found her yet?” He asked hoping that was enough to get the monk to open up and maybe give him a clue to where he need to go. Instead it angered the slayer more as she pushed past the monk and started to walk quickly his way. He hadn’t prepared himself for her to hit him. The swing threw him back as she took the advantage and climbed over him. 

‘No, you jerk, we haven’t found her but if it wasn’t for you none of this would have happened. Do you know how much danger she is in now?” The girl on top of him couldn’t continue to mask her emotions any longer as the tears started falling. Ginta and Hakakku stood stiff unsure of if they should be saving Koga or not as they watched the slayer become a crying mess in front of them.   
Koga felt the pain and guilt rip through him once more as he heard the slayers sobs. He never guessed his own painful action could cause such a pain to someone else and the new-found fact was eating him to his core. He let his pride drop as the monk slowly pulled the crying girl off him and wrapped her in his embrace. He wondered if he would ever hold Kagome like that and for once he didn’t question the thought. 

“I know she is in danger, that’s why I am trying to find her myself.” He said letting a couple of his own tears out. He would never dare to full on cry in front of humans, but he allowed them to see some of his own pain. Ginta and Hakakku thought were a sobbing mess just seeing their leader let his guard down. They held each other as they cried. The slayer stopped crying immediately. 

“What did you say?” She asked him, her face of nothing but a cloud of confusion. 

“I said, I am trying to save her.” Koga roared at her causing both humans to jump in shock. 

“Why would you want to save her after kidnapping her and doing nothing but cause her pain? I am sure you hurt her.” The slayer said. Koga felt each word hit him like a knife. She was right, what right did he have to be Kagome’s rescuer? Even though he knew she was right, his wolf wouldn’t stand for it. Before he could stop himself, he felt his beast take over and stand up to the slayer that threatened to question him.

“I hurt her horribly, that is true, but she is mine to save because she is mine.” The words came out as a roar making the monk hide the fearful slayer behind his back. 

Ginta stood in front of him to try and calm him down before he did something he would regret later before turning to the two humans and giving them a smile. “In a nicer way, that means he has fallen in love with her.” 

Sango’s mouth flew open at the demon’s words and Miroku couldn’t stifle his laugh. Once Koga was calmed down he turned a gentler gaze towards the two. “Yes, ok, I have fallen for Kagome.” It felt so good to finally get that off his chest. Ginta and Hakakku beamed brightly at him. He knew they loved being right and now he would never hear the end of it. He let his head hang in his own embarrassment. Suddenly a clothed hand grabbed his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. 

The monk gave him a small smile “Maybe, then, we can help each other.” Koga returned the smile and felt his happiness sore again. With her friends helping him he was sure he would find Kagome in no time. 

The figure watched the exchanged from the shade of one of the nearby tree where they were hidden. ‘So, they were teaming up against Inuyasha, this should be interesting.’ They quietly took off before their presence could be noticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to cut this book in two. So, there will be a sequel. This book is about Koga discovering his feelings and the next will be Kagome's. So please look forward to it. Also, I look forward to any type of feedback you want to give.
> 
> I got a comment saying that this was story had gone from cliché to me making Inuyasha as evil as Naraku. This is what I was going for. I want to make Inuyasha evil as to make it hard for Kagome to feel for him. I know it is stupid but that is how my story will go.


	28. Spied

She moved elegantly through the forest. The rain seemed to fall around her, not a touch dared to dampen her skin. Her ears perked up at seeing her newly formed sister standing just a few feet from her. She smiled a deadly grin in her direction. She moved slowly trying not to disturb the girl who was currently immersed in watching her looking glass. 

“The wolf and the others are teaming up to take on Inuyasha.” She said bored of standing against the tree quietly. She brought her fan up to bring it open in front of her. She moved it lightly back and forth studying the weapon she had been given. Her eyes moved to the little girls back. The dim light from the storm clouds made her look so hollow. She seemed like she didn’t belong in such a place. 

Her sister reminded her of death and nothing else. She, herself, was made from their master out of a need. He needed someone willing to do the dirty deeds that he was too lazy to do, and she was that someone. She was meant to taunt and break the ones he wanted her to and she did just that. The girl in front of her was made to watch.

This new incarnation was made to spy, nothing more. She was good at her job. She used her object and power to find the ones she should and see what she needed. The only thing that bored her about her was that the small girl did nothing but what she was told. She was made to show or feel no emotions. This made her feel lonely and she hated that feeling. 

To top it all, Naraku had brought back the boy. He was a puppet and nothing more. He was supposed to also break people and with the control Naraku had over him, Kohaku was indeed good at following the orders he was given. He had tried to resist a time or two, but the pain was a good motivator in stopping it. Kagura rolled her shimmering red eyes at the silence of her two companions. 

“Kanna, did you hear what I said?” He couldn’t help but be frustrated. The girl seriously knew how to get on her nerves. She didn’t know why Naraku had forced her to bare the presence of such annoying parts of him, but she knew what would happen if she tried questioning it. 

“I knew it already.” Kanna said ignoring her sister once again. She considered the thick glass of her mirror, the view she saw would make Naraku happy. She watched as the glass fogged and the one she had just thought of came into view. Kagura leaned over her to see his face as well. 

“Good work, now come home.” Naraku said. Kagura could hear the dark humor laced in his words. She had no clue what Kanna had showed him, but he found it pleasing none the less. She leaned up once more as Kanna stood beside her, hugging the mirror close to her chest. Kohaku moved beside them and Kagura sent him a small smile. Part of her felt bad for the boy and what was being done to him, but she wouldn’t think on it too much for fear of what thoughts could cause Naraku to do. 

She gently reached the feather that hung from her hair and throw it up into the wind. The object quickly grew and started floating down. The three climbed on. Kagura felt one of Kanna’s small hands grip her kimono and laughed. The girl always acted so emotionless but there were times when she would slip, just like now, when she tightened her grip on her showing her tiny fear of falling off. 

Not like it would kill her, but Kagura wondered if the thought of pain was what scared the girl the most as she slowly raised the feather up in the air. The wind swirled around her making her feel sad. She was supposed to be as free as this wind but that wasn’t how her life was. She wouldn’t let herself feel the anger she had been suppressing because he would know. He held the one thing close to him that would tell him everything. The one thing that could kill her. 

She snaked her head around and saw the boy that was given a second chance at a life. He was laid back leisurely on the back of the feather with his hands resting under his head. She wondered what he was thinking, his memories were intact. She knew this much, but did that piece of shard he had in his neck really hold so much weight, that he didn’t stand up? She honestly pitied him, but at the same time she didn’t.

The feather flew quietly along the wind stream she created to take them to the new palace Naraku had claimed to now hide himself after he so bloodily gave up the last one. She could still hear the screams of the wolves as she was forced to brutally rip them apart. She didn’t want to do it but the grip he had on her was too tight to fight. He had the one thing she needed to finally be what she wanted, her heart. She needed her heart to be as free as the wind she envied so much. 

She watched the horizon with a troubled feeling. Things were starting to happen and that meant more work for her. She let a hiss escape from between her clinched teeth as they flew through the barrier that hid the castle and brought her and the other two safely to the ground. The first one to hop off the feather was Kanna, she couldn’t stop the chuckle. Next, the dutiful Kohaku followed slowly behind her. His walk was zombie like and Kagura wondered what the kid would have been like before this Kohaku was brought to being. 

She sighed in frustration and made her face void of any emotions as she summoned her feather back to its original size. She slid her fingers across the fan at her side and started towards the castle entrance. She heard the malicious voice from the hall. She pushed her back flush up against the outside of the room she heard the voice and closed her eyes and prayed he wouldn’t feel her presence.

“Kagura, why are you staying by the door? Get in here or I am sure I can think of some way to make you do as I say.” His voice pulled her quickly through the door the fear of the punishment propelling her forward. The shivers hadn’t stopped but she forced herself to look indifferent as she stalked her way over to the nearest window and sat on the sill. She grabbed her fan out and propped one of her legs up on the sill and placed her arm atop it. She laid her head on it looking out the window, wishing she could be anywhere but here. 

“So, the wolves and the priestess doubles’ friends are teaming up against Inuyasha, who now has made a pact with that bitch Kikyo.” Naraku couldn’t stop laughing and Kagura could feel it booming in her ears. It felt like it was grinding on her bones making her shutter. “Where is Kikyo?” Kagura leaned a slight bit to see the priestess through the glass. She saw nothing but a tuff of black hair and quickly lost interest.

Naraku stood and asked Kohaku for his pelt. He shrugged the coat on and smiled evilly before moving towards the doors that would lead him outside to the castle yard. He looked at Kagura as she raised her head to meet his gaze. “I am going to see an old friend, and you are going to keep an eye on the rescuers.” Kagura turned her head and rolled her eyes. She was always the one to do the grunt work. ‘If they get close to Inuyasha, stop them.” He stepped out and took off. 

Kagura huffed. “Must be nice to do as you please.” She said quietly to herself. She knew who this friend would be, and she hated to admit her jealousy. She stood up and straightened out her kimono. Told Kanna to keep an eye on things while she was gone before releasing her feather to once again do what Naraku commanded of her.


	29. Memory

Kagome’s tired eyes fluttered open. She groaned as much as the gag that blocked her mouth would allow her. Her whole body was in excruciating pain. She felt like she was being ripped apart with every ragged breath that she tried to push through her lungs. She fought her body’s need to rest to look around the cave. 

The smell of the food that Inuyasha had cooked earlier hit her nose, her stomach failed her in hiding how hungry she was. She closed her eyes and wished it to be silent. She didn’t want to give Inuyasha any reason to believe she was awake. Her silent prayers went unanswered as a small laugh hit her ears. Her body shook with the fear it enlisted in her. She squeezed her eyes closed tighter as she heard him approach her.

Inuyasha fought against the feeling the smell of her heat made him feel to lean down next to her. Her face was swollen and bruised from the abuse he had rained down on her. He felt pride bloom in him as he watched the shiver her body let off, he could literally smell her fear. It was almost as intoxicating as the smell from earlier. He didn’t know how much longer he could take of this human before her presence became too much. His other half had remained quiet for the most part, but even he could tell he was having a hard time coping with the beautiful scents she was very rudely throwing their way. 

Inuyasha roughly grabbed her chin in his clawed hand and forced her to face him. He wondered how long she could refuse to look him in the eyes. He smiled crookedly as her eyes slowly opened and she stared back at him. He could see it. Her eyes were calling out to his other half and he could feel him responding but he refused him any attention. “Finally, the princess is awake. I thought I was going to have to give you a kiss.” Inuyasha chuckled as he shoved her face from his grasp.   
Kagome’s mind drifted to the memory of her and Inuyasha. 

‘She had come home against the many refusals of her half-demon companion. She had an exam coming up and she still hadn’t studied for it. If things keep going like this, she wasn’t going to graduate with her class. She grabbed her back pack off the floor beside her desk and was about to start studying again. She had been here just a total of two days now and of course the ever impatient Inuyasha had come to drag her back. They had their normal fight of her refusing to go and him threatening her.

Inuyasha was now currently sitting on her bed, his sword was leaning against the mattress next to him. She had given him a book to try and distract him from once again disturbing her. It was an American Fairy Tale book that she had been assigned in her English class last year. “What is this stupid book about?” Inuyasha said before throwing it causing a loud smack to be heard around Kagome’s small room as it hit the wall. 

“What did you do that for, that is one of my favorite books.” Kagome scolded Inuyasha who did nothing but roll his eyes and scoff in response. She moved out of her chair and picked the book up from the floor, she quickly checked the pages and spine for any sight of damage. She made her way over to her bed and flipped through the book as she sat slowly down next to Inuyasha.   
“Of course, you would like something as stupid as that.” Inuyasha said quickly placing his hands inside the sleeves of his fire rat robe. 

Kagome looked at her insane friend with a look of shock on her face that she quickly replaced with anger. “Why is it stupid? You just don’t understand it is all, maybe that makes you the stupid one.” Kagome watched as Inuyasha open his mouth to argue with her, but he quickly shut it and Kagome couldn’t help but notice the slight blush that overtook his cheeks. 

“So, what if I don’t understand it. It’s still stupid.” He said as he looked away from her and directed his attention to the blooms that hung on the branches of the tree outside her window. Kagome felt horrible, of course Inuyasha didn’t understand the book, because he had never been taught English. She slowly scooted over next to him and flipped to the one story she knew without a doubt he would love. 

Inuyasha acted uninterested at first in the story that Kagome had chosen to tell but as soon as the evil fairy Maleficent turned into a huge dragon form to fight the prince, Kagome saw his ears perk up and he looked over her shoulder excitedly. Kagome chuckled at the gleam that lit his yellow orbs. She heard an audible ‘bleh’ escape his lips when she read the line that told how the prince had to kiss Auroa to break the spell. 

Kagome screamed as a shot of pain hit her. It had pulled her away from the beautiful memory she was having. Inuyasha had taken the knife he had used to cut up the boar and jammed it into the soft tissue of her upper thigh. The wound was bleeding heavily and Inuyasha could see the color quickly drain from Kagome. He jumped back as she moved her body to allow herself to vomit on the rock floor beside her. 

Kagome was losing her will to hold on to her conscious state as the pain was too much for her already weak body to handle. “Inu-In” She stuttered after finishing the disgusting act of releasing the few contents her stomach held. The pain had made her already sensitive stomach flip and she couldn’t control the actions that followed. 

Inuyasha could hear her mumbled words even though they were but mere whispers. He placed his hand over his mouth to stop the smell of the vomit from hitting his nose. He didn’t want to copy her actions. He was about to walk out of the cave to smell fresh air again when his other half finally made an appearance. ‘If you don’t fix the wound, she will be dead in the next couple minutes.’ Inuyasha huffed at his statement. 

“That was the point, you half-breed idiot.” He answered out loud. 

‘This isn’t what you want, and you know it. This wasn’t your plan.’ The other voice boomed in his head. 

“Unlike you, I don’t care what happens to this useless human.” He was rubbing his head gently trying to relieve the headache the other voice had left behind. 

‘That isn’t true. You need her alive, Kikyo needs her alive. You don’t want to lose her over your temper, do you?’ Inuyasha rolled his eyes at his other half’s words. 

“My temper was not the problem. She wasn’t listening to me. I am not one to be ignored.” He screamed in response. He had sat there yelling at the girl, telling her the multiple things he had thought about while waiting for her to wake, but he looked in her eyes and saw it, that look that told him she was somewhere other than with him at the moment. He remembered that look well, it was the look that told him he wasn’t good enough. He couldn’t help but let the past creep around him. Being the part of a monster that demons saw as nothing and humans hated. 

He couldn’t hold back the hatred she had made him feel. He had taken retaliation without thinking but he couldn’t say he regretted it. The main reason he had the girl was to kill her. He had only kept her alive for that wench Kikyo anyway. “She can die for all I care.” Inuyasha said as he crossed the barrier, leaving behind the dying girl? 

“You don’t want to lose the only chance you have at becoming whole, do you?” His other half screamed in desperation. 

Demon Inuyasha stopped in his tracks for a moment and considered his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are enjoying this story so far. I want to wish all you lovely people a Happy Thanksgiving!


	30. Time

Koga rubbed his throbbing temples to relieve the massive headache he was getting from being forced to listen to the slayer’s constant nagging. Ginta and Hakkaku was still finding the slayer and monk couple very entertaining as they sat interested in front of them. Their heads quickly moved back and forth between the two as they argued. The monk was trying to convince the slayer that it would only serve to help them if they teamed up with Koga and the slayer was calling the wolf prince every name in the book. 

The rain was close to stopping. It was the one small thing that Koga was happy about, because now it wouldn’t hinder his smelling ability anymore. He leaned his head against the tree bark behind him as he took a calming breath of the air around him. It still smelt of rain, but he had to admit he loved it. The smell of the damp grass beneath him and the trees that loomed around him, gave him a sense of home. It reminded him of the place his pack had been before they had come to the mountains. 

The birds of paradise had nearly wiped them all out, forcing his father to leave the forest they called home. He remembered hating the dens at first. They seemed so closed off and stuffy, but as he got older he knew the reason his father had chosen them. The demon birds had followed them, but the mountain gave them just the right amount of shelter back then to help keep them safe. He frowned at the change of that since he had taken charge. 

“FINE, we will do it your way.” Sango screamed, finally tired of arguing with the monk. 

Shippo scurried curiously over to the day dreaming wolf and took no caution in jumping in his lap. “You hurt Kagome, didn’t you?” Koga wasn’t sure if the look on his face was one of worry or anger, but it intrigued him either way. 

“How do you even know her? You’re a kitsune, why are you running around with this lot?” Koga asked. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he didn’t want to assume things. 

“I am a kitsune, but Kagome is my friend, she saved me from the thunder brothers, they killed my father and left me all alone.” Koga allowed the smile to show on his lips. So, Kagome wasn’t just kind to demons, but she was really friends with them. He wondered what kind of person she really was after all. She wasn’t like any human he had ever come across and it killed him knowing she was now hurting because of him. His smile fell as he remembered the small fox’s first question. 

“I did hurt her.” He said feeling the guilt wash over him for what felt like the hundredth time. “I took my pain out on her.” He saw the small kit’s face harden and soften again quickly as he thought about what he was trying to say. “My pack got killed, and I hurt Kagome trying to find out who had hurt them.” Shippo just jumped from his lap to his shoulder and sat down. 

“I see.” Those were the only words the little one could say to Koga as the small tear drops started to run down his cheeks. “I miss her.” 

Koga used the hand closest to Shippo to gently pat his small knee. “Don’t worry we…” Koga stopped in his attempt to comfort the kitsune when the familiar scent hit his nose. He stood up and sniffed at the air around him, making sure he wasn’t mistaking it. 

“Koga, what’s up?” Ginta asked noticing his leader’s stress. Hakkaku and he both ran to his side without a second thought. 

“Koga, tell us what you smell.” Hakkaku added trying to get their tense leader to give them some kind of clue to his weird behavior. Koga instantly stopped sniffing and turned to look at the confused group of people and demons directly behind him. The red that bled into his eyes scared Shippo making him leave the wolf’s shoulder to find sanctuary by his friend, the slayer, who had her hand on her weapon in fear of what the beast in front of her would do next. 

“I smell blood.” Koga let out in a raspy growl before leaving the rest of the group behind with only his target in mind. 

Naraku glided through the over grown forest, trying not to bring any attention to himself. Especially to the woman that floated lightless in the middle of the small pond of water, that laid isolated in the middle. He watched as her dark black hair moved freely through the water behind her. Her clothes bounced with every wave the wind gave the water around her. He couldn’t stop the feeling that was surfacing, the feeling he hated so much. The one the human part of him refused to release from it’s memory. 

“Are you here to speak or are you enjoying just watching me?” Kikyo’s soft harsh voice knocked him from his hateful thoughts back to reality. Of course, she had sensed him, she was weakened but she was still the great priestess she always was.   
An evil smirk took over his features. “As cold as ever, I see.” He said as he lend against the tree he had previously been in hiding behind. 

“I have no time for play, if you have something to say, then say it. Otherwise you have no need to be here.” Kikyo said still floating in the water.

“Maybe I am here to kill you while your powers are so drained, did this thought ever occur to you.” Naraku said in a hissed tone. He hated the amount of disrespect this dead bitch always showed him. He was the evil Naraku, and someone who deserved to be feared. Kikyo upon hearing his words instantly lifted herself out of the water and moved slowly towards the furious half-demon. 

“Kill me?” She said as she stood in front of him. A sly smile played on her lips as she slowly started circling the demon in front of her like he was her prey. She allowed her finger to glide over the fluffy baboon pelt he wore. She stopped at his side and leaned her body against him, as she made her way towards his ear. Naraku stood as still as he could, as not to let the woman know she was having any effect on him. “You know you can’t.” She whispered, her hot breath tickled the inside of Naraku’s ear.

Before he could stop himself, he had lost control. He had the dead priestess strongly by the neck and shoved her into the nearest tree. “I can do anything I wish.” He spat at her in anger. “If I wish you to be dead, I can kill you.” Naraku said as he tightened the grip on the priestess making her laughter come out raspy and sputtered. He grimaced as the feeling took him over. The other side of him was on a mission to stop him. His hand suddenly flew away from the woman’s neck. 

Kikyo collapsed on the floor still laughing as she tried to desperately catch her breath again. ‘You were saying?” Her eyes met the angry ones of the man in front of her causing her to feel pride at his look of defeat. 

Naraku clenched his fist trying to calm himself. He needed to get away from this woman. He needed to find the cure to free himself of her and his other part. He wrapped his pelt tightly around him getting ready to flee from the embarrassment that was bruising his demonic pride. “The wolf, slayer, and monk are coming for Inuyasha.” He had wanted to use this information for his self-gain, but he knew he had lost that chance. 

Kikyo stood up and dusted the forest dirt from her outfit and smiled brightly at the figures’ retreating back. “So, it’s time.”


End file.
